MetLife Expands Asset Management

The asset management arm of MetLife which manages $600bn in assets is buying PineBridge Invesments from Pacific Century Group (with interests in TMT and real estate) owned by Hong Kong billionaire Richard Li in a deal worth up to $1.2bn. Exclusions include PineBridge's private equity funds group and a joint venture in China named Huatai-PineBridge.

Nissan and Honda in Merger Talks

The potential tie-up between Honda and Nissan is aimed at taking on Chinese rivals like BYD who are increasingly dominating the EV car market.

Databricks raises $10bn from Investment Groups

Thrive Capital led the funding round for Databricks. Existing investors such as the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP) also participated. This is one of the largest VC funding rounds in history. ICONIQ Growth, MGX and Sands Capital were new investors in this round.

Oil Falls on Demand Concerns, Brent at $72 a barrel

Oil has fallen amid concerns over slowing growth and lesser demand from China. Brent is at $72 a barrel, and WTI at $69 a barrel.  The Brent-TI premium stands at $3. China state-owned refiner Sinopec said Chinese demand could peak in 2025. BP has a partnership with Sinopec in ethylene derivatives.

Perplexity Declines to Comment on Purported $500m Funding Round

Perplexity, an AI-powered search engine, has purportedly closed a $500m funding round at a valuation of $9bn. OpenAI's ChatGPT Search is a competitor. Perplexity is currently fighting a lawsuit on copyright infringement.

Vultr Wins New Financing

Vultr, the world's largest privately-held cloud infrastructure company, has completed a round of financing led by LuminArx Capital Management and AMD Ventures. Vultr was founded in 2014 by David Aninowsky. "We are pleased to welcome our new equity investors," said David.

Maginative is an AI News Platform

Maginative is an AI news platform bringing the scoop on OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, Microsoft, Meta, NVIDIA and more.

Marginal Gains as UK joins Pacific Trade Pact

The UK has joined the CPTPP an Asia Pacific trade pact that includes Australia.  It stands for the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership first signed in March 2018. CPTPP countries accounted for 8% of UK exports in 2019. Mexico, Chile and Peru are the South and Central American nations currently part of this group.

Activist Hedge Fund Bluebell Closing After Capital Raising Challenges

European activist investor, Bluebell Capital Partners, launched in 2019, is set to close. Co-founders have a background in banking and MBAs from Columbia Business School. In April 2024, they unsuccessfully targeted BlackRock in an attempt to oust Larry Fink.

Trafigura ex-COO on trial for corruption

The case, being heard by the Swiss Federal Criminal Court, exposes how Trafigura used third parties to channel bribes including the alleged bribery of an Angolan official between 2009 and 2011. The former executive on trial is Mike Wainwright. This is the first case where executive leadership of a major commodities trading house has been on trial despite being in the sights of prosecutors for years.

Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares Resigns

Tavares led Stellantis since its founding in 2021 following the merger of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot SA. Competition from Chinese vehicle manufacturers has been cited as one reason for a profit warning in September 2024.