SINGAPORE (June 17): “We remain firmly committed to our growing traditional meat business and expect to be a market leader in alternative protein.” — Noel White, CEO of Tyson, a leading producer of meat.
Alibaba’s giant IPO
Alibaba Group Holding has filed for an IPO in Hong Kong. The confidential application meant it did not need to file financial disclosures. The offering is expected to raise as much as US$20 billion ($27 billion), although the target has not been finalised. That will make it the largest offering in Hong Kong since AIA Group’s IPO in 2010. A successful fundraising could help Alibaba finance a war of subsidies in food delivery and transport services.
The e-commerce giant is expected to preserve its existing governance system, where a partnership of top executives has rights including the ability to nominate a majority of board members. Under new rules for secondary listings introduced by the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong last year, the company can apply for an exemption to restrictions that normally would prevent that system.
Tough job market in Singapore
More Singapore citizens are unemployed in the first quarter of the year than at the end of last year. According to the latest statistics from the Ministry of Manpower, the citizen unemployment rate was 3.2% in March, versus 3.1% in December 2018.
Further, nearly 40% more workers, or 3,230, were retrenched during the quarter, compared with 2,320 a year ago. The top reason cited by employers for retrenchment was business restructuring and re-organisation.
However, the six-month re-entry rate among retrenched residents rose marginally for the second consecutive quarter, from 64% in 4Q2018 to 66% in 1Q2019.
The seasonally adjusted number of job vacancies declined from 62,300 in December 2018 to 57,100 in March 2019, even though the number of available jobs is higher than a year ago. Still, the ratio of job vacancies to unemployed persons is only at 1.08.
The ministry says the overall job market is holding steady, with total employment growing by 10,700, supported by the services sector.
Penang reaps spoils of US-China trade war
Foreign direct investments into Penang’s manufacturing sector surged 1,360% y-o-y to RM8.47 billion ($2.78 billion) in the first quarter. That was more than the FDI for all of 2018. Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said in a statement that the northern Malaysian state stood to gain from changes in the global supply chain, given its connections, a strong talent pool and supportive public policies. Penang alone accounts for 42% of Malaysia’s total manufacturing FDI. The MNCs that operate in Penang include Intel Corp and Dell Technologies. Recent investments include US semiconductor company Micron Technology’s new solid-state drive assembly and testing centre and Florida-based Jabil Circuit’s purchase of land to expand its facility.
Dassault Systèmes bets on healthcare with medtech acquisition
The French technology and engineering company, better known for manufacturing the €46 billion ($71 billion) fighter jet Rafale, is buying a US software firm that analyses clinical trials. The acquisition of Medidata Solutions for US$5.7 billion will boost Dassault’s offerings to drugmakers. The company has targeted healthcare as a crucial growth market and is riding an industry shift towards personalised medicine, which requires the analysis of vast amounts of data. Medidata offers clients wearable sensors that help track patients’ response to drugs and is expected to complement Dassault’s 3D design and engineering software business. Dassault is to finance the takeover, expected to close at year-end with a €1 billion loan, a €3 billion bridge-to-loan facility and cash.
Norway ditches fossils
The Norwegian US$1 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest of its kind, is set to dump more than US$13 billion worth of stocks linked to coal and oil explorers and producers, as well as a range of emerging-market bonds. However, the plan will keep its investment in companies such as Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil Corp. The finance ministry said the divestments are part of its plan to reduce the portfolio’s exposure to volatile crude oil prices. Instead, the fund will be allowed to invest in unlisted infrastructure for renewable energy, though the government has proposed a cap of 2% of the fund within its so-called environment-related mandates, whose upper limit will be doubled to NOK120 billion ($14 billion).
Jeffrey Ong faces new charges
Lawyer Jeffrey Ong has been slapped with another eight charges for forgery and cheating. The managing partner of law firm JLC Advisors was first charged on June 1 for cheating CCJ Investments of $6 million in February. He now faces a total of nine charges.
The prosecution has yet to charge Ong with offences relating to the missing $33 million from Allied Technologies’ escrow account. Prosecutors told the court on June 13 that since news broke of Ong’s disappearance, along with Allied Technologies’ money, another three clients had reported unauthorised transactions involving their accounts handled by JLC Advisors. The sum involved in these three cases total $16 million. Coupled with the $33 million from Allied Technologies and $6 million from CCJ, the amount of money Ong has allegedly misappropriated may now total $55 million.
Prosecutors on June 13 asked for Ong to be held in remand for another week to give police more time to trace funds and verify transactions at JLC Advisors. Ong’s case will be heard again on June 20.
Ong was arrested in Malaysia on May 30 after going incommunicado from May 20. Allied Technologies executive director Kenneth Low has been interviewed and his passport impounded. Trading of the company’s shares remain suspended.
