Asia Pacific

One of China’s poorest provinces is testing Beijing’s mettle with a mountain of debt that local borrowers are struggling to repay, the Wall Street Journal reported. Investors worry it is a harbinger of another major debt crisis in the country, and believe the central government will have no choice but to defuse it. Cracks have been showing in the finances of Guizhou, a southwestern province with jaw-dropping landscapes and some of the world’s highest bridges.

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U.S.-based Micron Technology Inc. on Monday forecast a hit to revenue in the low-single to high-single digit percentage after a ban by China on sale of its memory chips to key domestic industries marked the latest in the Sino-American trade spat, Reuters reported. China's cyberspace regulator said late on Sunday that Micron, the biggest U.S. memory chipmaker, had failed its network security review and that it would block operators of key infrastructure from buying from the company. It did not provide details on what risks it had found or what products from the company would be affected.

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Mizuho Financial Group Inc. will buy U.S. M&A advisory firm Greenhill & Co Inc. for $550 million including debt, the companies said on Monday, as Japan's No. 3 lender eyes a bigger share of the world's largest investment-banking fee pool, Reuters reported. The $15-per-share offer represents a premium of 121% to Greenhill's last closing price. Its shares had dropped nearly 40% over the 12 months till Friday's close as high interest rates weighed on dealmaking activity.

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The National Company Law Tribunal on Friday dismissed IDBI Bank's insolvency plea against Subhash Chandra promoted Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL), the Economic Times of India reported. The public sector lender had filed an insolvency resolution petition against Zee for the default of over Rs 149 crore. The company said in a filing in December 2022 told said that IDBI Bank, claiming to be a financial creditor, filed the petition before the Mumbai bench of the NCLT.
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Crypto investment firm Hashkey Group plans to raise funds at a valuation above $1 billion, taking advantage of Hong Kong’s digital asset push to try and entice potential investors, Bloomberg News reported. Hashkey, which operates one of the city’s only two licensed digital coin bourses, is in early-stage talks to raise $100 million to $200 million, according to people familiar with the matter. The deal is progressing but terms such as size and valuation could change because they aren’t finalized, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private negotiations.
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Some Hong Kong-based staff with U.S. consultancy Mintz Group have left the city after the firm's Beijing office was raided by Chinese police in March, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter, Reuters reported. Investigations by Chinese authorities into Mintz, as well as U.S. management consultancy Bain & Co and mainland consultancy Capvision Partners, have sent a chill through companies that deal with China, with many unclear where red lines stand as Beijing prepares to introduce stricter anti-espionage laws in July.
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A committee appointed by India’s top court said that it doesn’t see any regulatory failure or signs of price manipulation in the rise and fall of the Adani Group’s stocks, in an interim report that’s a reprieve for the embattled conglomerate, Bloomberg News reported. All 10 Adani Group stocks rose in Mumbai trading on Friday after the six-member panel’s report was made public, with flagship firm Adani Enterprises Ltd. and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd. recovering the day’s losses to close around 3.5% up.
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The bankruptcy court has dismissed an application filed by IDBI Trusteeship Services Ltd to initiate the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) against Dish TV's promoter group company Direct Media Distribution Ventures Pvt Ltd, the Economic Times of India reported. Former Dish TV chairman and MD Jawahar Goel, along with his family, is a promoter of Dish TV. Goel is Essel Group chairman Subhash Chandra's younger brother.
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The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has admitted JC Flowers Asset Reconstructions' application to initiate insolvency proceedings against Tulip Hotels over defaults of ₹900 crore, the Economic Times of India reported. The application was originally filed by Yes Bank, the lender. The debt was subsequently assigned to JC Flowers, which filed a substitution application that was allowed on March 6. Tulip Hotels had challenged this debt assignment. However, the same was dismissed on March 23.
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Japan’s latest inflation figures due Friday are likely to cement the view among some economists that the central bank will have to bump up its price forecasts, a factor that may fuel speculation of policy adjustment to come as soon as July this year, Bloomberg News reported. Growth in consumer prices excluding fresh food is expected to have re-accelerated in April after a recent cooling. Meanwhile, a deeper measure of the trend that also excludes energy costs is expected to reach its highest level in 41 years, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
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