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| Pegatron expanding China capacity to manufacture iPhone 6: report Monday, Mar 17, 2014 08:19 PM PDT Taiwan's Pegatron Corp, which assembles Apple Inc's iPhone and iPad, is opening up new factory space and recruiting workers in China to meet orders to manufacture the new iPhone 6, Commercial Times reported. In addition to Pegatron, fellow Taiwanese contract assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd would be the other primary manufacturer of the new phone, Commercial Times said. Full Story | Top |
| As email threats multiply, funds pick up Proofpoint Monday, Mar 17, 2014 05:46 PM PDT  By David Randall NEW YORK (Reuters) - The last time email could be called a sexy business, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was celebrating his tenth birthday. Yet Proofpoint Inc, a $1.6 billion market cap email security company, is catching the eye of fund managers by gaining share in a market that many investors have left for dead. Twenty-six small-cap funds added Proofpoint to their portfolios over the last quarter, a nearly 15 percent increase from the quarter before, Morningstar data show. ... Full Story | Top |
| New online platform wants to take on YouTube Monday, Mar 17, 2014 05:07 PM PDT (Reuters) - Wonder PL, a new video platform for lifestyle content that launched on March 13, is taking direct aim at YouTube and Vimeo while hoping to capitalize on the soaring popularity of online video. Backed by Universal Music Group, Qualcomm Ventures, former Apple executive Pascal Cagni and a personal investment by Vice Media President Andrew Creighton, Wonder features topics from wellness to food to entertainment targeting women. Wonder if differentiating itself from YouTube by targeting professional content makers to use its platform for an annual fee. YouTube is free to anyone who wants to upload a video. Full Story | Top |
| High-tech goods to lead trade growth over next 15 years: HSBC Monday, Mar 17, 2014 04:07 PM PDT  Exports of high-tech products will grow more quickly than exports of other goods over the next 15 years as emerging Asia moves away from being a low-cost production hub for foreign brands and toward developing value-added local products, according to research from HSBC. High-tech goods would make up more than 25 percent of goods traded by 2030 compared to 22 percent in 2013, HSBC said in its latest global trade report, which forecast trade would pick up only slowly in the near term. The value of global goods trade would rise at an average rate of 8 percent a year from 2014 to 2030, with high-tech goods rising about 9 percent a year, HSBC said. HSBC said much of the future increase in high-tech trade would be driven by internationalization of supply chains, with parts for high-tech products crisscrossing national borders, but Asian firms would also snare market share from Western competitors. Full Story | Top |
| Microsoft's CEO may unveil Office for iPad on March 27: source Monday, Mar 17, 2014 03:56 PM PDT  Microsoft Corp Chief Executive Satya Nadella may unveil an iPad version of the company's Office software suite on March 27, a source familiar with the event told Reuters, and use his first big press appearance to launch the company's most profitable product in a version compatible with Apple Inc's popular tablet. Nadella, who replaced longtime CEO Steve Ballmer earlier this year, will address the media and industry executives in San Francisco on March 27. Investors for years have urged Microsoft to adapt Office for mobile devices from Apple and Google Inc, rather than shackling it to Windows as PC sales decline. Microsoft gives up some $2.5 billion a year in revenue by keeping Office off the iPad, which has now sold almost 200 million units, analysts estimate. Full Story | Top |
| Ahead of bankruptcy hearing, LightSquared seeks finding against Ergen Monday, Mar 17, 2014 03:49 PM PDT  By Nick Brown NEW YORK (Reuters) - Broadband company LightSquared on Monday urged a judge to find that its largest creditor, Dish Network Corp Chairman Charles Ergen, acquired his debt holding improperly. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Shelley Chapman was hearing closing arguments in a trial over whether Ergen concealed his identity to acquire his controlling stake of LightSquared's debt. The outcome of the trial is likely to determine the fate of LightSquared's wireless rights after it emerges from Chapter 11. "There's no question that Ergen was a competitor" of LightSquared, and should not have been able to buy its debt, a lawyer for LightSquared, Andrew LeBlanc, told Chapman. Full Story | Top |
| Japan holds first broad cybersecurity drill, frets over Olympics risks Monday, Mar 17, 2014 02:03 PM PDT  By Tim Kelly and Nobuhiro Kubo TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan faces a full-on cyber attack across government departments on Tuesday in a drill aimed at bolstering national security as the country gears up to host the 2020 Olympics. Japan is following the lead of Britain, which invited ethical hackers to test its computer systems in the run up to the 2012 London Olympics. Some 50 cyber defense specialists will gather at an emergency response center in Tokyo, with at least three times that many offsite, to defend against a simulated attack across 21 state ministries and agencies and 10 industry associations, said Ikuo Misumi, a hacking expert at Japan's state-run National Information Security Centre. "It's not that we haven't put effort into cybersecurity, but we are certainly behind the U.S.," Ichita Yamamoto, the cabinet minister in charge of IT policy and who is leading the effort to boost cybersecurity, said in an interview. Full Story | Top |
| Bain and Advent in exclusive talks to buy card payment firm Nets Monday, Mar 17, 2014 12:20 PM PDT STOCKHOLM/LONDON (Reuters) - Private equity firms Advent International and Bain Capital have entered exclusive talks to buy Danish card payment services company Nets Holding for more than 2 billion euros ($2.8 billion), two people familiar with the matter said on Monday. Advent and Bain, which jointly own British payment processing company WorldPay and have teamed up for the Nets bid with Danish state-owned pension fund ATP, beat three other bidders in the final round of the auction, the sources said. The three other bidders were private equity fund Permira in partnership with Canada Pension Plan, French IT services company Atos and a consortium led by Swedish private equity firm Nordic Capital. Full Story | Top |
| Bouygues could turn from predator to prey in French telecoms war Monday, Mar 17, 2014 11:44 AM PDT  By Natalie Huet and Gilles Guillaume PARIS (Reuters) - French conglomerate Bouygues, having lost out in a takeover battle for Vivendi's telecoms business SFR, risks becoming prey rather than predator in a domestic mobile market with scope for more consolidation. Losing SFR to rival Numericable is a setback for tycoon Martin Bouygues, who founded Bouygues Telecom in 1994, spending billions to turn it into number three in the French mobile phone market behind Orange and SFR. Bouygues and Iliad, the number four mobile player, became unexpected allies during the fight for SFR. And now Iliad, with a market capitalization of around 10 billion euros, could try to swallow Bouygues, worth roughly 5 billion. Full Story | Top |
| Vodafone agrees $10 billion deal for Spain's Ono Monday, Mar 17, 2014 11:21 AM PDT  By Kate Holton LONDON (Reuters) - Vodafone has agreed to buy Spain's largest cable operator Ono for 7.2 billion euros ($10 billion), the latest hefty deal in a European telecoms sector starting to rebuild as the region recovers from a recession. The British group said on Monday it would use some of the $130 billion proceeds from the sale of its U.S. arm to acquire Ono, with a superfast cable network and 1.9 million customers, to create a stronger challenger to market leader Telefonica. The deal for private equity-owned Ono is Vodafone's third purchase of a European fixed-broadband asset in two years, following similar moves in Britain and Germany, enabling it to offer fixed-line and mobile services, pay-TV and broadband, while saving money on building and operating its networks. The agreement, which comes as the French market undergoes a similar transformation, could also spark more consolidation within Spain as players such as France's Orange seek out acquisitions to avoid falling behind. Full Story | Top |
| Bankers to earn up to $62 million from Vodafone deal with Ono Monday, Mar 17, 2014 09:13 AM PDT By Clare Hutchison LONDON (Reuters) - Bankers working on Vodafone's $10 billion deal to buy Spain's Ono could pocket up to $62 million in advisory fees, according to an industry estimate, the latest windfall for dealmakers in the technology, media and telecom (TMT) sectors. Vodafone Group Plc said on Tuesday it has agreed to buy Spain's largest cable operator Ono, as the British group rebuilds its European operations with a broadband offering. Vodafone adviser Morgan Stanley and Robertson Robey Associates, who assisted the company's board, will share fees of between $22 and $27 million, Freeman Consulting, which tracks bankers' fees, estimated. Full Story | Top |
| Twitter CEO Costolo to make first China visit Monday, Mar 17, 2014 08:30 AM PDT  By Gerry Shih SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Twitter Inc CEO Dick Costolo will meet Shanghai government officials, academics and students in his first visit to China, signaling Twitter's interest in cracking a lucrative but thorny market with 600 million Internet users. Twitter, which has been blocked by Chinese censors since 2009, described the trip as a personal tour for Costolo, who is due to land at Shanghai's Pudong International Airport on Monday and plans to spend three days in the business capital. Costolo is scheduled to meet Shanghai government officials — including representatives of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone, established in 2013 to test market liberalization measures, such as looser rules governing currency conversion and foreign direct investment. Full Story | Top |
| China's central bank mulls Alibaba, Tencent payment curbs - state media Monday, Mar 17, 2014 07:57 AM PDT  China's central bank is considering regulations that would significantly limit the use of third-party payment systems, including the payment arms of Alibaba Holding Group and Tencent Holdings Ltd. The People's Bank of China released draft rules last week to major banks for consultation, state media reported on Monday. They would also heavily limit spending by individuals using third-party payment platforms and transfers from bank accounts to accounts managed by third-party companies. "We have reported our opinions to, and are in close communication with, the PBOC," said a spokesperson with Alipay, Alibaba's payment platform. "Given that the document is now under consultation, we are not able to comment further." Alibaba said on Sunday it had picked the United States for a long-awaited initial public offering, ending months of speculation about where it would float and dealing a blow to the Hong Kong stock exchange. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. authorities probe TeliaSonera's Uzbek licence deal Monday, Mar 17, 2014 07:29 AM PDT U.S. authorities are investigating TeliaSonera's purchase of a 3G license in Uzbekistan in 2007, the Swedish telecoms operator said, a deal that has forced the firm to replace top management and most of its board. Swedish prosecutors have already launched a preliminary inquiry into corruption allegations related to the 2.3 billion Swedish crowns ($360.5 million) deal, while Dutch authorities raided Telia's offices this month. Telia said it was cooperating with all authorities in the matter. A spokesman for the company, 37 percent owned by the Swedish state, said the questions from the U.S. authorities were very broad and that it had not been informed what had triggered the new investigation. Full Story | Top |
| Vodafone agrees 6.02 billion pound deal for Spain's Ono Monday, Mar 17, 2014 06:41 AM PDT  By Kate Holton LONDON (Reuters) - Vodafone has agreed to buy Spain's largest cable operator Ono for 7.2 billion euros (£6.02 billion), the latest hefty deal in a European telecoms sector starting to rebuild as the region recovers from a recession. The British group said on Monday it would use some of the $130 billion proceeds from the sale of its U.S. arm to acquire Ono, with a superfast cable network and 1.9 million customers, to create a stronger challenger to market leader Telefonica. The deal for private equity-owned Ono is Vodafone's third purchase of a European fixed-broadband asset in two years, following similar moves in Britain and Germany, enabling it to offer fixed-line and mobile services, pay-TV and broadband, while saving money on building and operating its networks. The agreement, which comes as the French market undergoes a similar transformation, could also spark more consolidation within Spain as players such as France's Orange seek out acquisitions to avoid falling behind. Full Story | Top |
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