Business and technology quick bites

Updated version at 8.00 am

The highlighted words in red are links to the news article.

April 27, 2021,

Business News

1. Oil pared its losses on Monday as Opec+ indicated that it was watching surging Covid-19 cases in India, which may dent fuel demand in the world’s third-biggest oil importer.
2. Lyft Inc. has agreed to sell its self-driving division to a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corp., in a $550 million deal.
3. A United Arab Emirates sovereign wealth fund, Mubadala Investment, a fund with US$232 billion of assets, plans to buy a stake in an Israeli natural-gas field for as much as US$1.1 billion, would be the biggest business deal since the nations normalised ties last year.
4. Thoma Bravo, a private equity firm would buy Proofpoint Inc in an all-cash deal that valued the cybersecurity firm at about US$12.3 billion, at a time when remote working due to the pandemic has fueled a surge in demand for network security.
5. JPMorgan Chase & Co is preparing to offer a Bitcoin fund to wealthy clients, the latest sign that Wall Street is warming to the largest cryptocurrency, after it soared in recent months.
6. One of China’s biggest food delivery giants, Meituan, under anti-trust probe as Beijing clips the wings of its soaring tech companies.
7. Wall Street is expecting Microsoft to report strong financial results when the company posts its March quarter numbers a modest rally away from hitting a $2 trillion valuation for the first time.
8. Nestle SA in talks to acquire vitamin maker Bountiful Co, potentially expanding in a segment the company entered under the five-year watch of Chief Executive Officer Mark Schneider.

Technology News

1. GameStop Corp has raised $551 million through an equity offering as the videogame retailer accelerates its shift to e-commerce, sending its shares 15% higher in extended trading on Monday.
2. Spotify is planning a major push into live audio, hoping to corner the market on what it thinks could be its next big business, in a bid to challenge Clubhouse.
3. Apple Inc is increasing its US investments by 20% to US$430 billion over the next five years, to develop next-generation silicon and spur 5G wireless innovation across nine US states, after outstripping its growth expectations during the pandemic.
4. Pi Ventures, the early-stage venture capital fund, focused on artificial intelligence and deep-tech startups, to raised US$76 million for its second fund.
5. UpGrad, an India-based edutech startup, has received a whopping US$120 million from Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings.