Week in Review: US-Sweden Forge Defense Pact, Biden Eyes India for Energy Balance, South Korea Amplifies Chip Alliance
Week of 11 December
👋 Hello and welcome to this week's edition of Business Beyond Borders, brought to you by Bluente, where we highlight the most important cross-border news every week
📰 News flash around the world
US and Sweden sign defence cooperation agreement (CNA)
Biden looks to India to counter China’s clean energy dominance (Forbes)
South Korea to boost chip cooperation with US, Japan and the Netherlands (Source)
🌎 Business Expansion Updates
Chinese business expansion in the Middle East to get a boost with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund investing in eWTPA, a venture fund focused on easing Chinese business expansion into the Middle East (SCMP)
United Overseas Bank and Changan, a Chinese automaker, announce a strategic partnership for their expansion plans in the ASEAN region (The Nation)
Ares Management, an NYSE-listed global alternative investments manager, to enter Japan, as APAC expansion continues (Source)
McDonald’s is planning one of its fastest growth periods in history with an expansion of 10,000 new stores globally by 2027 (RT)
⚖️ Legal & Regulatory Updates
EU agrees on landmark A.I. Act (NYT)
US states to crack down on foreign-owned farm fields through new and old laws (ICS)
🤝 Deal Highlights - Notable M&A / finance transactions
TikTok will take a controlling stake in an e-commerce unit of Indonesia’s biggest tech firm, PT GoTo Gojek Tokopedia, for $1.5 Billion (RT)
Saudi Arabia’s PIF is seeking to gain majority control of London’s Heathrow Airport, as several shareholders consider the sale of their interests; a 25% stake in the airport recently sold for $3 Billion (BBG)
ByteDance, parent of social video phenom TikTok, is offering to buy back up to $5B worth of shares from investors at a $268B valuation (BBG)
Rakuten Group, which is struggling with heavy debt and losses, plans to sell ~15% of Rakuten Bank to overseas investors to raise as much as $433 Million (RT)
Learn new terms this week - Did you know? We have just launched Indonesian in-app!
Letter of Credit: 信用证 (xìn yòng zhèng)
Factoring: 保利 (bǎo lì)
Bill of Exchange: 汇票 (huì piào)
Let us know what topics and language interest you here!
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