Panasonic's acquisition of Blue Yonder - June 19, 2021
Panasonic Corp. is a Japanese multinational electronics company, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka. It offers a wide range of products and services like rechargeable batteries and industrial systems. To improve the quality of the products and services offered to clients, Panasonic has announced on Friday 23 April its intention to buy the U.S. supply-chain software provider Blue Yonder Holding Inc. from Blackstone Group Inc. and New Mountain Capital LLC for $7.1 billion.

Hong Kong: The Asian Miracle - 18 June, 2021
In the late 1800s, Hong Kong rose to international prominence when it acted as a base of operations for British colonial trade, effectively bridging the prosperous West and emerging Eastern world. And while modern-day Hong Kong has certainly evolved over the past two centuries, its role in the global economy has remained largely unchanged. 

The deterioration of the China-Philippines relationship in the South China Sea - 18 June, 2021
The South China Sea has been home to maritime disputes since China laid claims on almost its entirety with the nine-dash line (then eleven-dash line) in 1947. In April 2021, China and the Philippines had an unusual confrontation following the threatening presence of more than 200 Chinese fishing vessels near the Spratlys, located in the middle of the region. 

How CVC had planned to buyout Toshiba - 16 June, 2021
It is no secret that in the last years, activist investors have identified in the Japanese stock market an incredible investment opportunity. Investors identify in the Japanese financial market a developed market to find firms trading below their intrinsic value.
Toshiba was a prime example of such an attractive investment opportunity for active investors. In 2021, the company had managed to improve its financial performance after a very turbulent period. 

Leveraging infrastructure investments for a green economic recovery - 6 May, 2021
According to the World Bank, the ongoing pandemic triggered the deepest worldwide recession since World War II  and many governments are looking at green infrastructure projects as a way to provide relief to a pandemic-damaged economy. The EU and the US have already launched massive infrastructure bills. For the years ahead, Asia, and China in particular, will lead the way with $35bn infrastructure spending out of the $66bn in global infrastructure expenditure forecasted between 2021 and 2040.

​Orocobre-Galaxy merger: the new behemoth in lithium industry - 5 May, 2021
On April 19th, the Brisbane-based Orocobre Limited announced they have come to an agreement with the peer Galaxy Resources Ltd. to merge in a A$4 (US$3.1) bn deal. This union will give birth to the world’s fifth largest player – by market capitalization - in one of the fastest growing industries: lithium chemicals.

Japan Post and Rakuten: a joint effort to escape a downward spiral - 25 April, 2021
Rakuten Inc’s shares surged up 24% on March 15th after it announced plans to raise $2.2 billion through stake sales with Chinese tech behemoth Tencent, Japan Post Holdings and Walmart in its latest attempt to fend off competition from Amazon.

Social media industry shake-up in South-East Asia - 22 April, 2021
The age of social media has changed the whole world as no trend did before, and now social media is a parcel of the everyday life of users. Due to the immense potential of social media, the global social media market is expected to tread along a healthy growth track. The scene is dominated by US and Chinese tech giants, and therefore, in March 2021, the SoftBank-backed Z Holdings merged with Line, reaching a market capitalization of $43bn, in order to become the third force in the social media landscape and reshape the industry as US giants did with previous mergers.

What is going on within the Semiconductors Market? An overview of the industry and its main logics  - 18 April, 2021
Given their wide range of applications,  global supply of semiconductors has increased in size in the previous years. To really understand the dynamics of this industry, we should focus on the supply chain and its implications. Is automotive industry a unique case or is it just the first of many sectors to suffer from the semiconductors shortage? Will the trend of de-globalization intensify this trend?

How the most significant carbon emitter can turn carbon-free by 2060 - 10 April, 2021 
At the United Nations General Assembly last December, China has pledged to become carbon neutral in the next 40 years. From increasing the number of renewable energy installations to shutting down coal mines and investing in carbon capture and storage (CSS) technologies, China has certainly a long way to go. How will the largest carbon emitter become a carbon quitter?

Baidu's IPO on the Hong Kong stock exchange - 9 April, 2021
Baidu raised more than $3 billion on the 23rd of March during its IPO at the Hong Kong stock exchange. However, the increased fees on trading imposed by Chinese authorities and the general rotation from growth to value stocks didn't allow the listing to match the high expectations there were.

SPAC to De-Spac: will Asia be the next hotspot? - 5 April, 2021
The surge of newly listed SPACs in 2020 signals that more and more companies are looking for targets to acquire by the end of 2022, namely to “de-SPAC”. Asia-Pacific, where tech startups thrive on economic growth, is the place-to-be for listed SPACs. This region is experiencing a growing interest because tech-focused startups view SPACs as a more efficient 'exit' option than conventional listings.
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SK Bioscience's listing and the ever-growing South Korean IPO market - 25 March, 2021
Despite the coronavirus-induced pandemic, 2020 has seen a record number of firms going public. The Asia Pacific region has been a special contributor to this “IPO Boom”. SK Bioscience’s listing, completed on March 18, is another confirmation of the South Korean market unstoppable rise within the region. What are the main drivers behind this trend?

Alibaba: still a safe bet for long-term investors?  - 13 March, 2021
Since October Alibaba’s stock has fallen by 25% bringing the company to a market value of $643 billions. Chinese antitrust investigations on tech giants and Ant group’s halted IPO increased uncertainty over the company’s performance. Anti-china policies implemented by former president Donald Trump are another relevant concern for Jack Ma’s group. Is the company ready to face these political and regulatory risks?

Can rare-earth metals become “weapons” in the US-China trade war? - 6 March, 2021
Following the US-China trade war started under Trump’s presidency, rare-earth elements became an increasingly important topic. China is the biggest producer of these metallic elements, and analysts often wondered whether China would block its exports to counter decisions taken by the American government.

China's "e-yuan": an overview of the digital renminbi - 24 February, 2021
As the pandemic acts as a catalyst for greater digitalization, Asian central banks are conducting intense research to issue a digital version of their fiat currency. China confirms its central role in the new economic order and is spearheading the shift to e-currencies and a cashless economy. PRC's authorities, in occasion of the lunar new year of the Ox, handled out through a public lottery thousands of virtual "red packets" worth RMb200 each.​​

Bali's pristine ecosystems in pandemic times - 8 December, 2020
Looking back at 2020, the global economy has changed drastically due to the coronavirus outbreak and this is particularly true for regions where one of the main drivers of GDP was represented by tourism. Indonesia is an interesting example: an archipelago in South-Est Asia famous all over the world mainly thanks to one of its small island, Bali. What are the main countermeasures applied there during the 2020 and what could have been done better?

The "Game Changer" in SK's strategy - 6 December, 2020
SK Group is South Korea’s third-largest company. Recently, the group has decided to end all its new investments in oil and gas overseas and to lower the gas emission by two-thirds. This decision represents a significant change in the company strategy.

Antitrust laws: Is this the end of fintech monopoly? - 5 December, 2020
According to Morgan Stanley, the competitive environment in China has intensified over the years and tech giants continue to fend off new rivals that are taking away portions of their market share. For this reason, China’s bureau for regulating monopolies — the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) has approved to stop anti-competitive practices in the internet sector.

China's property market seems unstoppable, but some debt issues could emerge on the horizon - 2 December, 2020
The resilience of the Chinese’s housing market could be the parachute to avoid painful economic contractions this year. However, long run trends of indicators such as urbanization rate and house prices could deflate in the near future and raise concerns on the financial stability of the massively leveraged Chinese’s property developers.

Nomura's profits from M&A have increased, due to Covid-19 - 30 November, 2020
During the past few months, Japanese companies were involved in a lot of deals, that were accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic. All of these helped Nomura have one of its strongest half-yearly performances in more than two decades. 

Monte Carlo of the East - 28 November, 2020
When we think about the most-impacted business by the coronavirus outbreak, we usually refer to transportation, and hospitality but actually, the gambling sector is one of the most damaged. "Pure" casinos' operators saw their revenues decline by approximately 99% due to restrictions and have no idea how the future will look like.

A halt on the Techfin Ant Group’s IPO: an unsustainable “asset-light” business model? - 19 November, 2020
Expected to raise at least $34.4bn with the biggest-ever market listing, the colossus Ant has received a halt from Beijing.  Only two days before the expected debut, the Chinese government has published a draft regulation on the booming micro-lending sector which could cause a 6-months delay on the IPO, as well as considerable shrink in the value of Ant Group.

Some insights about the Philippine Stock Market - 15 November, 2020
The Philippine stock exchange is currently underperforming, some measures have been put into practice to revive the country's situation, with a focus in particular on small companies and emerging start-ups.

How the US ban will affect Huawei in global retail sector - 10 November, 2020
The US restriction policies and trade blacklist has affected numerous companies in Asia, in particular, the giant tech company Huawei. This action has removed the world's largest telecom equipment and smartphone vendor from all suppliers’ products that incorporate U.S. technology.

Renminbi rallies as China’s economy invigorates - 8 November, 2020
Chinese yuan’s swift appreciation has been triggered and fueled by booming economic recovery of the country in the pandemic’s aftermath and the US contribution. An omen to a dollar’s possible decline?

The “Great Leap Forward” into Finance: China’s unstoppable rise in an ever-evolving world - 1 November, 2020
Amid Sino-American tensions escalating to unprecedented levels, it is highly debated whether the "New Cold War" will jeopardize Uncle Sam's once undisputed leadership. China's incredible rebound since January and the strong optimism around its growth projections confirms the asian superpower's position as an outsider among the world's major economies

Will SoftBank find a strategy to path out from the “coronavirus valley”? – October 31, 2020
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank has attracted the attention of the markets as one of the key and more influential players and made the news for many reasons. From the heavy divestiture strategy, moving to the “Nasdaq whale” bets and ending with the talks of a potential delisting of the company, Masayoshi Son’s group has been on the headlines of the newspapers.

An alternative to traditional government bonds: the rise of foreign investments in high-yield China - 27 October, 2020
FTSE Russell has recently claimed that starting from October 2021, Chinese sovereign bonds will be included in the World Government Bond Index (WGBI). The same has been done by JP Morgan Chase and Bloomberg Barclays, which had preceded FTSE Russell in adding Chinese Renminbi bonds in their respective benchmarks, a move that highlights the increasing foreign attraction into the market.

India’s new FDI rule: Dear neighbour, you are no longer welcome - 5 May, 2020
In the midst of the global pandemic, when the slogan is “Stay at home”, India locks its doors even more with a new policy directed at foreign direct investments. The Ministry of Commerce announced that any entity based in or tied to a country “which shares [a] land border with India” will require government approval before investing in an Indian company, a move ultimately aimed at China.

Olympics postponement deals heavy blow to an already struggling Japanese economy - 27 April, 2020
After the Japanese asset price bubble, in which real estate and stock market prices were greatly inflated, Japan has experienced 3 decades of low growth and stagnation, sometimes referred to as “The Three Lost Decades”. The Olympic Games were an opportunity to reset that and to boost the economy. However, due to the coronavirus outbreak, Japan’s prime minister and the International Olympic Committee agreed to postpone the Tokyo 2020 summer games until next year. This postponement will hit the struggling Japanese economy very hard.

Stay safe but be prepared- Taiwan's game - 26 April, 2020
The country of Taiwan has seen a fairly small number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 compared with its regional neighbors: Hong Kong, Singapore and especially South Korea and Japan. These results are outstanding considering the high contagiousness of the virus and the continuous exchanges with this neighbourhood. 

Who owns what? How China "shops" US high tech firms - 23 April, 2020
Once upon a time there was a land, where almost everyone could start his own business and be successful. It’s the American Dream, it’s United States of America. But right now, the owners of those companies, the ones founded by successful self-made men are really different.

The Chinese banking system under severe stress - 22 April, 2020
The outbreak of Covid-19 will cause a global recession. Policymakers have used the banking system to mitigate the slowdown of the economy. China is not an exception. The stock of NPLs will rise all over the country. Smaller regional banks exposed to SMEs and to the wholesale and retail sector are the institutions more at risk. Nevertheless, contagion risk remains high.

Are China’s electric vehicle goals threatened by coronavirus and oil shock? - 19 April, 2020
In the last decade, China increasingly became the biggest investor in renewable energies and the biggest market for electric vehicles. The country is the greenest in the world, since it has more solar and wind plants than anybody else, but also the most polluting, with increasing numbers of new coal plants being built. That’s why the Chinese government has aggressively favored the shift towards electric vehicles. However, the government’s goals could be severely jeopardized by recent disruptions caused by the coronavirus outbreak and the crash in oil prices.

RBI attempts to rescue Yes Bank - 16 April, 2020
India’s financial system is currently facing a big crisis. Lenders’ problems have become one of the most important issues for financial authorities, as they try to address a wave of bad loans that has already led to some non-bank lenders collapsing. In the beginning of the month, India’s central bank seized control of the heavily indebted Yes Bank, the fourth-largest private lender, replacing its board and temporarily limiting withdrawals to Rs50,000.

Philippines and Sri Lanka shut the financial markets on COVID-19 turmoil, should other countries follow in their steps? - 14 April, 2020
Philippines and Sri Lanka shut the financial markets amidst the COVID-19 turmoil, should other countries follow their steps? The concerns regarding the worldwide spread of the virus have been reflected in the financial markets, triggering their circuit breakers on multiple occasions.​

Jollibee’s U.S. Gamble costs $2.9 billion in market value - 12 April, 2020
In the midst of the flailing global economy, Philippine fast food giant Jollibee is no exception. However, Jollibee Foods Corp, responsible for 56% of the US$5 billion fast-food market in the Philippines, was struggling long before the coronavirus outbreak started. Jollibee has captured the Filipino market since inception and trounced McDonald’s on its home turf with its signature fried chicken. 

Hong Kong: a property market analysis during violent anti-government protests and coronavirus - 10 April, 2020
During the last period Hong Kong property market, one of the most unaffordable in the world, has been under pressure, firstly because of violent pro-democracy protests and the uncertainty connected to trade war between US and China, but mainly due to the outbreak of coronavirus. Indeed, home values of Hong Kong are following a declining trend, and, in February, home prices recorded the biggest drop in the last 15 months. 

Will coronavirus hit the credit card ABS market? - 1 April, 2020
Asset-backed securities (ABS) are investment products derived from pooling together several receivable assets and selling their cash flows to investors. Many of these products tend to deliver poor performances when unexpected shocks cause disruption in the economy. That is what happened in 2008. Coronavirus has shaken credit markets all around the globe, how would this virus impact ABS? South Korea was one of the first countries affected by this epidemic and studying what happened there may tell us what is going to happen in Europe in the near future.

Coronavirus: A coup de grâce for Chinese start-ups? - 31 March, 2020
From a poor fishing village on China’s Southern coast, in less than 30 years Shenzhen has developed into one of the most important tech hubs in the world. This new Silicon Valley offered a unique mixture of tech know-how and cheap manufacturing costs. While in 2018 Chinese start-ups attracted nearly 30% of global venture capital, in 2019 they managed to raise only $54 billion, about half of the figure of the previous year.

UK’s Tesco exits Malaysia and Thailand, completing its retreat from Asia - 28 March, 2020
Tesco (LSE: TSCO), the leading supermarket chain in the UK and Ireland, announced on March 9, 2020 that it has agreed to sell its Malaysian and Thai business for $10.6 billion in cash to Thai conglomerate CP Group. This deal represents the largest acquisition in Asia in the year to date and is the biggest in Thailand’s history.

The smart move of Islamic finance: sukuk bonds - 26 March, 2020
Sukuk, plural for sakk, “legal instrument”, is the Arabic name for financial certificates, incorrectly named “Islamic bonds”. These securities bend the problem of the interest payment by interposing, generally, a tangible asset in the investment: in doing so, Sukuk holders receive their profit as a sort of rent (which is allowed under Islamic law).

Gojek raises $1.2 bn capital to fight Grab. Would a tie-up make sense? - 25 March, 2020
Indonesia’s ride-hailing giant Gojek has raised $1.2 billion for expansion and increased its Series F round total to just under $3 billion, according to an internal memo sent by its co-CEOs on March 17th. The new financing was finalized just over the past week, when the Covid-19 outbreak quickened its spread and triggered market routs across the globe.

Thriving real estate markets: Singapore - 22 March, 2020
The Singapore luxury property market, which performed further above expectations in 2019, is likely to outperform in 2020 as new deliveries are due. At the same time, intense competition among developers may occur price increases for higher-end properties.  Foreign buyers will continue their investments as they regard Singapore a relatively cheaper property destination compared to the likes of London or New York.

Will Nio recover? Chinese TESLA Alternative Bailout Request - 19 March, 2020
China and the United States have, in recent years, engaged in what the Brookings Institution calls “responsible competition” not only through their notorious trade war, but also by means of expanding into foreign markets. Tensions between the two countries have further burgeoned as China attempts to infiltrate the vehicle manufacturing market. 

SoftBank: outlook for the second vision fund? - 18 March, 2020
SoftBank Group Corp. is a Japanese multinational conglomerate holding company with the headquarter in Tokyo. The company owns stakes in Softbank Corp., Softbank Vision Fund, Arm Holdings, Alibaba, Yahoo Japan, Uber, many more companies. The Japanese-based company reported earlier this month the second quarter of losses regarding its first Vision Fund. This information is pushing Chief Executive Officer Masayoshi Son to scale back his second fund.

Big Hit Entertainment, the label of K-pop boy band BTS, picks underwriters for IPO - 11 March, 2020
K-Pop has never been more popular. How valuable is K-pop to the South Korean economy is a little tricky to quantify but surely it is playing an increasingly important role. It contributes to the so-called “Korean culture export” that values 10 billion dollars annually according to local economists, but this figure is a little bit skewed because includes gaming and movies but it does not include around 5 billion dollars in annual sales of consumer goods.

Coronavirus bonds: helping people or balance sheets? - 7 March, 2020
​On January 31th, the Chinese government along with the people’s Bank of China, the Finance Ministry and Securities and banking Regulators have agreed on a new financial policy package. An interesting part of lengthy financial policy is a new funding instrument called "epidemic prevention and control bonds," otherwise known as “Virus Bonds”.

Understanding Hong Kong’s Real Estate slowdown - 6 March, 2020
For decades, Hong Kong real estate market experienced a crescendo of seamless and thriving growth becoming the most expensive market globally in terms of affordability for medium income households, as shown in several studies. However, a combination of an uncertain political turmoil, the pressure deriving from the US-China trade war and now the current outbreak of the Covid-19 are deeply threatening the sound development of Hong Kong’s property market...

Bad debt surge and liquidity shortfall: the Chinese case - 4 March, 2020
Non-performing loans are credits deemed uncollectible and thus written off by banks. This procedure causes banks’ capital position to deteriorate and thus leverage and risk to pile up in banks’ balance sheets. This problem is becoming crucial in the Chinese banking system, due to a long period of loose lending, sustained by a steep economic growth that initially fueled loans repayment. 

Chinese pharma industry: too expensive? - December 8, 2019
The largest population in the world and an aging trend has made pharma one of the most important and growing industry in China. In particular, China is the world’s second largest pharmaceutical market, worth $130 bln and still expanding at a fast pace. 

SK Biopharmaceuticals IPO: the approval from FDA boosts market expectations - December 7, 2019
First months of 2020 are going to inaugurate a new positive season for IPOs in South Korean markets because of the recent announcement that SK Biopharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of the group SK Holdings Co. and the third drug producer of the country, filed the preliminary requests for the process of listing in the Korea Exchange.

Yahoo Japan and Line are merging to repel US tech giants from the Asian market - December 5, 2019
Japan's biggest search engine and messaging app are set to merge under a deal agreed by their parent companies. Masayoshi Son, the founder of SoftBank (that is the parent of Yahoo Japan), is trying to orchestrate a deal between Yahoo Japan and Line that values the messaging service at $11.5 billion. SoftBank and South Korea’s Naver Corp. will take Line private and then fold Line and Yahoo Japan into a new joint venture. 

Investors aren't scared of Hong Kong recession - December 3, 2019
Chinese retail group Alibaba has announced this year's biggest share sale in June, with a plan to raise up to HK$100bn (£10bn) through a listing in Hong Kong. This is the first sale of this size being reviewed just days after confirmation of Hong Kong's plunge into the recession. Daily turnover on HK's stock market was HK$75.9 billion, down 20% annually. 

Thailand’s economy - an inside look - November 29, 2019
The Bank of Thailand announced earlier this month that Thailand’s benchmark interest rate would be cut to a record low of 1.25%. It is the second time in three months that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has agreed to a rate cut after the Southeast Asian country has seen the weakest growth in five years and is need of both monetary and fiscal stimulus to ramp up the economic outlook. 

Chinese banks need for capital: perpetual and convertible bonds - November 27, 2019
Years of strong economic growth and loose lending policies have brought to a rapid expansion of Chinese banks’ balance sheets. Now the situation has completely changed, with corporate bonds’ default levels dramatically increasing and growing concern on banks’ solidity. To respond to mounting financial risk the Chinese regulator has implemented the global Basel III rules on banks’ capital adequacy, forcing institutions to increase their capital to withstand possible future financial downturns.

​US blacklists 28 major Chinese companies; among them some of the leading AI companies in the world - November 25, 2019
On the 9th of October 2019, CNN shared a video named “Xinjiang: A New Explanation.” The video shot from a drone shows a large number of blindfolded, handcuffed men being transferred from a train station in China and it has managed to intensify suspicions over the crackdown on the Muslim minority of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, Northwestern China. But how did these suspicions lead to the US blacklisting 28 major Chinese companies and among them some of the leading AI companies in the world?

​Driving into the future - Toyota’s opportunity to disrupt the market with hydrogen fuel cell automobiles - November 21, 2019
When it comes to the automotive industry, most of the discussions boil down to electric vehicles and sustainability. Indeed, as environmental awareness is significantly building, car makers face a huge pressure from both regulators and from the society to cut emissions and greenhouse gases. 

Why South East Asia is so important to Alibaba - November 19, 2019
Ant Financial, Alibaba’s affiliate company, is in talks to lead a 600-million-dollar round of funding for the Indian company Zomato, after it acquired 10% stake last year for 210 million. This is only the latest move in the company’s broader strategy in South East Asia. Ant Financial controls the world’s largest mobile and online paying platform, Alipay, and has been expanding in the industry, acquiring companies in area, creating a vast network for digital payments. 

Chinese economic slowdown affects the World economy - November 17, 2019
China has the world’s fastest growing economy averaging a growth rate of 10% over the past 30 years. Driven by its manufacturing sector which exports goods that are consumed all over the world, in 2017, China’s economy was the second largest by gross domestic product and the largest by purchasing power parity. The country’s economic growth is slowing down leading to an expansion of merely 6% this quarter which is considered to be quite low for the Chinese economy-a reason for people to worry.

Why President Xi Jinping aimed to ‘shake’ Crypto Market with his endorsement of blockchain - November 15, 2019
On October 25th 2019, following a three-day plunge, there was a sharp 40% increase in the value of Bitcoin within the span of less than 4 hours; being the third all-time increase of the currency jumping as high as $10,332 on peak hours. The cause of this price spike is theorized to have occurred as a consequence of China’s president Xi Jinping’s declaration that the country must “seize opportunity” to adopt blockchain, which is the technology underpinning cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.