Chinese Backed Canyon Bridge buys UK Chip Designer Imagination for £550m

Chinese-backed private equity firm Canyon Bridge has bought UK tech manufacturer Imagination, maker of graphics chips for smartphones. (The US previously blocked the acquisition of Lattice by Canyon Bridge at $1.3bn citing security, or more precisely, "supply-chain integrity" concerns). In the case of Imagination, the MIPS business will be sold to Tallwood MIPS (based in Palo Alto and Jiangsu province in China) for $65m to avoid US regulatory scrutiny. MIPS is a RISC architecture for microprocessors.

Standard Chartered in New Commodities Trading Push

Oil options are hot again as Standard Chartered looks to move into the US market following years of cutbacks in the sector. Matthew Hastings, a former PetroChina trader, is set to head the London desk. Tougher regulations under Dodd-Frank in 2010 has impacted profits of all banks leading to pull-outs.

2010 - RBS Sempra exits Commodities
2013 - Deutsche Pulls global commodities trading
2013 - UBS restructures focusing on precious metals and index
2014 - Barclays exits Commodities, rolls precious into FX

In 2015 Standard Chartered had to lay on extra provisions due to losses on commodities loans.

Cheapest Tesla Yet - Elon Musk Rolls out the Model 3

The Model 3, Tesla's cheapest car yet, starts off at $35K, still higher than the Nissan Leaf, at just over $30K. The electric battery will run for 354 km before needing a recharge.

Oil Industry Focuses on Shorter Cycle Projects as Oil Prices Remain Low

The IEA has reported investment in the oil and gas sector has been falling owing to lower oil prices. Turkish economist Fatih Birol at the IEA urged policymakers to be mindful of the "long term adequacy of supply" in light of lower longer term investments in the sector. Energy efficiency investment, however, is on the rise.

A 75 Million Dollar Upvote for Cyber in the Form of Darktrace as Europe's VC Scene Hots Up

Cyber Story

UK cybersecurity startup has raised $75m in a Series D round, valuing the company at $825m (double the valuation from its capital raise in the previous year, 2016). Darktrace was founded in Cambridge and is a mere four years old. Insight Venture Partners, a new funder for Darktrace, stepped in alongside existing investors Summit Partners, KKR and cybersecurity specialist investor TenEleven Ventures (based in Boston and Silicon Valley). Darktrace has 500 staff and $200m of contracts including customers like British Land and Metro Bank.

Wider VC World and IoT Still Strong

In the wider VC world, funding in Europe hit 6.4 billion euros in 2016, the highest level since 2007. Invest Europe (formerly known as the EVCA) reports that 10% of the funding comes from US institutional investor. Furthermore the size of venture capital funds is increasing, with 13 funds raising more than 100m euros in 2016. Samsung NEXT is also coming to Europe with a promise of 150mm USD focused on AI, IoT, AR and VR. Berlin-based Felix Petersen is the MD in Europe.

Carillion Shares Drop 30%

Construction giant Carillion saw its shares drop 30% following a profit warning on Monday morning stating the company was losing money on its construction contracts. Balfour Beatty's stock also dropped but only by 50bps. Analysts decried Carillion's woes as largely company-specific. In particular, analysts pointed to a stretched balance sheet where debt used to fund acquisitions weighed heavily on thin margins in Carillion's day to day business.

Republicans Push for Simplified Dodd-Frank, Democrats say "No Thanks"

The bill in question is the Financial CHOICE Act, a simplification of the post crisis Dodd Frank Act.