2023-11-14 08:14
BEIJING, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Bahrain-based alternative asset manager Investcorp is aiming to raise 2 billion to 4 billion yuan ($274 million-$548 million) for its first private equity fund in the Chinese currency, its executive said, to explore buyout opportunities in the country. Investcorp plans to apply in the next few months for a license with Chinese regulatory bodies that will allow it to start raising funds from domestic institutions next year, Investcorp's co-chief executive officer Hazem Ben-Gacem said. "I hope over time, we will be more than just a Middle East investor in China. I want us to be perceived also as a local Chinese investor," Ben-Gacem told Reuters, adding that the final fundraising size will depend on investor appetite and market conditions. Abu Dhabi sovereign investor Mubadala holds a 20% stake in Investcorp. Investcorp's China fundraising plan comes as business ties between the Middle East and the world's second-largest economy pick up amid the Gulf states' infrastructure, technology and financial push, and Sino-U.S. geopolitical tensions. Buyers from the Gulf states have announced 13 acquisitions of public and private Chinese targets this year, versus just one during the same period in 2022 and more than any other year since at least 1980, according to data compiled by LSEG. Investcorp completed its first buyout in China in May, purchasing a controlling stake in Shandong Jianuo Electronics, which provides components used in applications such as electric vehicle power management and battery charging infrastructure. The deal size was about $100 million, according to a statement by the government in the city of Tengzhou, where Jianuo is based. Other major transactions by Middle East investors in Chinese firms this year include Aramco's purchase of a 10% stake in Rongsheng Petrochemical for 24.6 billion yuan, and Abu Dhabi government-backed CYVN Holdings' $738.5 million equity investment in electric car maker NIO Inc. Ben-Gacem said the Gulf region might prove an important source of yuan-denominated capital, as Middle East countries and China settle some trades in their local currencies. "You have an increasing quantum of renminbi (yuan) sitting within the Gulf Cooperation Council that needs to go back to be reinvested in China," he said. Sino-U.S. tensions and an uneven Chinese economic recovery have made many U.S. investors cautious about deploying fresh capital in China, complicating money managers' efforts to raise dollars for China-focused funds. Some private equity and venture funds are stepping up efforts to raise yuan funds. Still, convincing yuan-based investors to commit capital could be challenging amid economic headwinds. The yuan-denominated capital raised by China-focused venture funds totalled $7.5 billion so far this year, less than half of what was raised last year, while no China-focused buyout funds have been raised yet in 2023, according to data provider Preqin. Investcorp, which manages over $42 billion in assets, has invested more than $500 million in China. It kicked off its private equity business in China in 2018 by investing in a tech-focused fund backed by China Everbright. In 2022 it launched a $500 million fund with the Hong Kong-based private investment office of the Fung family, focusing on mid-cap companies across the southern Chinese province of Guangdong as well as Hong Kong and Macau. ($1 = 7.2884 Chinese yuan renminbi) https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/middle-east-asset-manager-investcorp-eyes-up-550-mln-first-china-yuan-fund-2023-11-14/
2023-11-14 06:35
LISBON, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Shared mobility, from ride-hailing services to electric scooters, will make up 7% of all urban transport journeys globally by 2030, up from 3% currently, according to a report published on Tuesday. The report by consultancy Oliver Wyman, published during Europe's largest tech conference, Lisbon's Web Summit, said the market size of shared mobility was forecast to reach 400 billion dollars by 2030. Shared mobility has emerged as a "more sustainable model" to solve various transport hurdles, such as cost and emissions, the report says. "The mobility sector has changed dramatically in recent years and in addition to cars there is now a range of different modes of transport available to people," said Andreas Nienhaus, head of Oliver Wyman's mobility forum. Olive Wyman used data from ride-hailing and food delivery startup Bolt to put together the report. "The shared mobility sector has grown to be used by millions of people over the past decade," said Bolt CEO Markus Villig. "We've seen shared mobility integrate into wider city transport systems." But the industry has also faced criticism, the report highlighted. It has been blamed for contributing to congestion and emissions by adding more trips to already congested roads, safety concerns have been raised over electric scooters and it has been criticised for the poor working conditions its drivers often have to endure. The report said more than nine million people were estimated to earn an income from shared mobility services in 2023, and the number was forecast to grow to 16 million by 2030. The report said shared mobility had the potential to significantly reduce urban emissions but the "overall impact is currently mixed" as it depends on factors such as consumer behaviour and coordination with other modes of transport. Electric scooter usage patterns show 10% of rides directly replace car journeys, the report said. https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/shared-mobility-make-up-7-all-urban-journeys-by-2030-report-2023-11-14/
2023-11-14 06:19
Nov 13 (Reuters) - Canada's Teck Resources (TECKb.TO) is planning to sell a majority stake in its steelmaking coal unit to Glencore Plc (GLEN.L), while Asian steelmakers Nippon Steel and POSCO will buy the rest in an overall $8.9 billion deal, the Globe & Mail reported on Monday. Glencore will pay $6.9 billion for a 77% stake in Teck's coal unit, while Japan's Nippon Steel (5401.T) will pay $1.7 billion and swap its interest in one of Teck's coal operations for 20% of the coal business, the report said, citing sources. South Korea's POSCO (005490.KS) will swap its interests in two of Teck's coal operations for 3% of the business, the report said, adding that the deal could be announced as soon as Tuesday. The Wall Street Journal first reported that Glencore and Teck were in advanced talks on a deal that would value Teck's coal assets at close to $10 billion. Glencore and Nippon Steel declined to comment. Teck and Posco did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment. Teck has been considering splitting its coal and copper businesses since March. In April, it rebuffed a $22.5 billion unsolicited takeover offer for the entire company from Glencore. The Vancouver-based company has twice rejected an unsolicited $22.5 billion bid for the entire company from Glencore. The company in July said it had received offers from "various" interested parties for its coal business. https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/teck-resources-nears-deal-sell-coal-business-glencore-wsj-2023-11-14/
2023-11-14 06:18
LUCKNOW, India, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Rescue workers on Tuesday battled to reach 40 Indian workers trapped inside a collapsed Himalayan highway tunnel for almost 60 hours, drilling through debris to fix a wide steel pipe which they hope can be used to pull the men out. The trapped men are safe and healthy, authorities said, and are being supplied food, water and oxygen through a pipe. Officials are also in regular contact with them. The 4.5-km (3-mile) tunnel, which is being built in Uttarakhand state on a national highway that is part of the Char Dham Hindu pilgrimage route, caved in around 5:30 a.m. on Sunday (2400 GMT on Saturday). There were about 50-60 workers on the night shift and those near the exit of the tunnel got out, while the 40 who were deeper inside were trapped, one worker able to leave the tunnel told local media. "This is a very challenging job because as we clear debris more debris is falling from the ceiling, so we are also trying to stop that by using cement," Mohsen Shahidi, a senior National Disaster Response Force officer, told news agency ANI. The debris covered an area of 40 metres (130 ft) and the 40 men were stuck in an area of about 50-60 metres, Shahidi said. Devendra Singh Patwal, a state disaster management official, said rescue workers had built a platform to insert the evacuation pipe and drilling had begun to push it through. Patwal said it was not easy to say how long it would take to pull out the workers. A team of geologists had arrived to determine the cause of accident, he added. The region is prone to landslides, earthquakes and floods and the incident follows events of land subsidence that geologists, residents and officials have blamed on rapid construction in the mountains. The work on the tunnel stretch commenced in 2018 and was intended to be completed by July 2022, which has now been delayed to May 2024, a government statement said. CONTROVERSIAL PROJECT "Initially, we thought it might be a minor collapse and began removing the debris however we could," Rajeev Das, the worker who made it out safely, told the Indian Express newspaper. Ramesh Kumar, the father of a trapped worker Akhilesh Kumar, said he had last spoken to his son three days before the incident and Akhilesh had planned to visit the family for the Hindu festival of Diwali over the weekend but could not make it. "His wife is several weeks pregnant and we have not told her as she is already worried and stressed," Kumar said. The Char Dham highway is one of the most ambitious projects of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government. It aims to connect four revered pilgrimage sites through 889 km (551 miles) of two-lane road being built at a cost of $1.5 billion. The project has faced criticism from environmental experts and some work had been halted after hundreds of houses were damaged by subsidence along the routes. The impact of the project was not properly assessed before construction started, a report by a Supreme Court-appointed expert committee had said in July 2020. When it approved the road in 2021, the court cautioned that the government should heed concerns raised by the committee, and draw up a strategy to protect the environment. The head of the panel quit last year saying he was frustrated its recommendations were not implemented. The federal government has publicly said it employed environmentally friendly techniques in the design to make geologically unstable stretches safer. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Tuesday told ANI that the state would examine work at all tunnels under construction to ensure they are completed safely. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/heavy-machinery-brought-pull-out-indian-workers-collapsed-tunnel-2023-11-14/
2023-11-14 06:18
NEW YORK, Nov 14 (Reuters) - The dollar fell more than 1% against major currencies on Tuesday after U.S. consumer price data showed the pace of inflation moderating further in October, increasing the odds that the Federal Reserve is done hiking interest rates. U.S. consumer prices were unchanged last month amid lower gasoline prices, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said, following a 0.4% rise in September. In the 12 months through October, the consumer price index (CPI) climbed 3.2% after rising 3.7% in September, BLS said. The dollar immediately tumbled on the report's release and Treasury yields plunged. The benchmark 10-year fell below 4.5%, removing a major support to the dollar's strength this year. "We think that the dollar will continue to weaken a bit throughout the end of the year, maybe even early into January," said John Doyle, head of trading and dealing at Monex USA in Washington. The dollar index, a measure of the U.S. currency against six peers, slid 1.55% to 103.980, on track to its biggest single-day percentage decline since Nov. 11, 2022. The U.S. currency also was poised for its largest declines since November 2022 against the euro and British pound. The dollar slipped 1.73% against the euro to $1.089, 1.82% against the British pound to $1.250 and 1.52% against the Swiss franc to 0.888. The dollar also fell more than 1% versus the Norwegian krone and more than 2% against the Australian and New Zealand dollars. The data was welcome news in the market, where many analysts have been predicting the Fed's interest rate hiking has peaked. "You can say goodbye to the rate-hiking era," said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. But Doyle, among others, cautioned the end of rate hikes did not mean rate cuts would be coming as soon as markets were predicting due to a tight American labor market and resilient U.S. economy that has kept consumers spending. "I don't think that they're going to be itching to cut rates necessarily," he said, referring to Fed policymakers. "The Fed's going to feel pretty comfortable to ride it out longer." Fed Chair Jerome Powell and other policymakers in recent days have tried to push back against expectations that the U.S. central bank was done with its aggressive rate-hike cycle. Futures show more than a 68% probability that the Fed cuts its overnight lending rate by 25 basis points or more by next May, according to the CME's FedWatch tool. YEN STILL ON INTERVENTION WATCH The Japanese yen, meanwhile, also gained against the dollar, but less than its peers. The yen strengthened 0.97% to 150.23 per dollar when earlier coming under pressure after it briefly jumped against the dollar on Monday - having touched a one-year low. The move was attributed to a flurry of trading in options rather than any intervention from Japanese authorities. DTCC data from LSEG's Eikon platform shows yen options worth a notional $3.5 billion with strike prices between 151.90 and 152 are due to expire between Wednesday and Friday. Another $2.2 billion notional worth of options with strikes between 151.90 and 152 will expire between Nov. 20 and the end of the month. Japanese authorities in September and October last year intervened in the currency market to boost the yen for the first time since 1998. "Our base case is that we could have intervention if we break the 152 level for dollar/yen," said Yusuke Miyairi, an FX strategist at Nomura. OPTIONS STRIKE PRICES BETWEEN 151.90 AND 152 YEN https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/yens-slide-multi-decade-lows-keeps-markets-intervention-alert-2023-11-14/
2023-11-14 06:15
Nov 14 (Reuters) - Bitcoin miners are making hay while the sun shines. The business has been yanked out of the doldrums by the cryptocurrency's recent rally - and now mining companies are racing to lock in profits before bitcoin's "halving", when rewards for producing the tokens are cut in half. The next halving is expected in April 2024, a process designed to slow the release of bitcoin, whose supply is capped at 21 million - of which 19 million have already been mined. "You're seeing a lot of urgency to plug rigs in ahead of the halving," said Gregory Lewis, analyst at brokerage BTIG that covers the 13 biggest U.S.-listed bitcoin miners. Bitcoin's hashrate - a measure of the computational power needed to mine a coin - has spiked to an all-time high, according to crypto platform Blockchain.com. That means miners are having to use more and more power and speed to crack the complex maths puzzles that earn them a bitcoin. Analysts at J.P. Morgan estimate the hashrate has hit record highs for 11 consecutive months, including a historic surge in October. PLAYING THE GAME Bitcoin has risen about 37% in the past month to around $37,000 after months of listlessness, a rebound that's encouraged miners to hook up their powerful computers to crack the puzzles and sell newly minted coins. The 30-day average of revenue earned by miners has improved steadily this year to hit a 18-month at $32.46 million on Nov. 11, blockchain.com data shows. However, mining - a highly energy-intensive process - is still not as profitable as in its 2021 heyday. A measure of miners' earnings from using 1 petahash per second of computing power in a day has risen to over $81 from $70 at the start of November but remains well below a peak of $127 in early May, according to mining data platform Hashrate Index. With six months to go till miners' share of rewards is slashed, they are looking for ways to keep their margins from shrinking in the highly competitive environment. "Every halving forces miners not playing that game at a high enough level to get washed out," said William Szamosszegi, CEO of mining company Sazmining. HALVING OPPORTUNITY Bitcoin prices have typically rallied in the past following halvings. Six months after the first halving in 2012, the price jumped to $126 from $12. After the second halving in 2016, it went to $1,000 from $654 within seven months and in 2020 it shot up to $18,040 from $8,570 in the same time period. Bitcoin's third halving in 2020 brought down miner rewards to 6.25 bitcoin per block and the upcoming one is set to push it down to 3.125 in April. At current prices, mining each block reaps $231,250. Matteo Greco, analyst at digital asset investment company Fineqia International (FNQ.CD), said many mining companies were upgrading their equipment and boosting their hashrate power to stay competitive. To conserve their profit margins, some players have resorted to moving their operations to Central American countries where energy prices are more affordable, and governments friendlier to cryptocurrencies. "It's too early to say if all bitcoin miners are out of the wood," said Ludovic Thomas, portfolio manager at Swiss-based Criptonite Asset Management that invests in digital assets. "Profitability increase always leads to network hashrate and difficulty increase." https://www.reuters.com/technology/cryptoverse-bitcoin-miners-make-money-ahead-halving-2023-11-14/
