Private equity firm Apollo Global raises bid to take Tech Data private

Apollo Global Management, a private equity firm, stated it has raised its bid to take Tech Data, a U.S. information technology equipment distributor, private in a deal valued at around $6 billion. Excluding debt, the deal is valued at nearly $5.14 billion, up from a previous offer of $4.77 billion. Following Apollo Global Management’s new…

Panasonic to divest its chipmaking units to Nuvoton Technology

On Thursday, Japan’s Panasonic Corp stated it will sell its loss-making chip business to Taiwan’s Nuvoton Technology, reported Nikkei Asian Review. According to the report, Panasonic is also slated to divest three Japanese chipmaking facilities of TowerJazz Panasonic Semiconductor – a joint venture with Israel’s Tower Semiconductor. The development comes midst the U.S.-China trade war which…

U.S. unveils procedures which shields telecom networks from national security threats

In a significant development, the United States has unveiled a procedure which is aimed at protecting its telecommunications networks as well as their supply chains, from national security threats. In May 2019, U.S. President Donald Trump had issued an executive order declaring a national emergency which bars U.S. companies from using telecommunications equipment made by…

Car production in Britain will take significant hit if Brexit leads to tariffs with EU: Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders

A British trade body has warned that the country’s annual car production is likely to drop by a third to 1 million by 2024 if Brexit leads to tariffs with the European Union; the output will be lost to other nations. Britons are staring at an elections in just over two weeks with Prime Minister…

Chicago’s city counsel approves tax surcharge on ride-hailing services

In a significant development, Chicago’s city counsel has approved a proposal which will see an imposition of increased taxes on certain ride-hailing trips. The move is aimed at combating traffic congestion in the city. Incidentally, the city counsel and ride providers have accused each other of penalizing low-income passengers. As per Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s plan,…

Indian digital payments giant Paytm valued at $16 billion in latest funding round

On Monday, Paytm, an Indian digital payments company stated it has raised fresh funds totaling to $1 billion from a group of investors which includes existing backers such as SoftBank’s Vision Fund and China’s Ant Financial Services. The funding round saw Paytm being valued at $16 billion. A fresh investment in Paytm by Japan’s SoftBank’s…

France’s 5G spectrum auction to have a base price of $2.4 billion: Junior Economy Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher

Frances’s 5G spectrum is slated to be sold with a base price of $2.4 billion (2.17 billion euros) – an amount that is significantly more than the figure that was previously recommended by the country’s telecoms regulator Arcep. Earlier last week, wary of heavy investments that will be required for deploying 5G technology, Arcep’s president…

Amazon files lawsuit contesting Pentagon’s $10 billion cloud computing contract to Microsoft

Amazon.com Inc has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims contesting the awarding of an up to $10 billion cloud computing contract to Microsoft Corp by the Pentagon. According to a spokesman for Amazon, the company has filed a complaint and supplemental motion for discovery under seal. “The Complaint and related filings…