SoftBank’s Yahoo Japan confirms merger talks with Line, shares jump [Reuters]
SoftBank’s Yahoo Japan, one of Japan’s top internet firms, confirmed it is in talks to merge with Line Corp, a US$27 billion union that would bring the messaging app operator under the SoftBank umbrella as it expands e-commerce and payments services.
Yahoo Japan, which last month changed its name to Z Holdings, said on Thursday discussions were underway with Line but nothing had been decided. SoftBank, which owns almost half of Z Holdings, also acknowledged the talks.
Alibaba to start trading in Hong Kong on Nov 26 [KrAsia]
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has initiated a global offering of 500 million ordinary shares, comprising a Hong Kong public offering of 12.5 million ordinary shares, according to a prospectus supplement it filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday.
Alibaba added in the prospectus supplement that it has applied to list these ordinary shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The company has also published its post-hearing information pack on Wednesday, indicating it has gained listing approval from the Hong Kong bourse.
EDBI named as Pico investor and strategic partner [press release]
Pico, a provider of technology-as-a-service for the financial markets community globally, today announced an investment from EDBI.
Pico provides innovative, low-latency financial markets solutions. Instant access to financial markets is provided via PicoNet, a global network platform instrumented natively with Corvil analytics and telemetry.
Its clients include more than 400 leading banks, exchanges, asset managers, financial technology vendors and trading firms operating across five continents.
SoftBank sets IPO as criteria for financing Paytm’s US$1B round [DealStreetAsia]
Japanese conglomerate SoftBank has agreed to invest in Paytm’s latest US$1-billion funding round on a condition that the Indian digital payments company should target to go public within the next five years from the time of completion of the transaction.
According to a report in The Economic Times, if the initial public offering (IPO) does not take place within the stipulated time period, SoftBank, which is already an investor in Paytm, will have the right to sell its stake to a rival company.
Freshworks secures US$150M led by Sequoia, CapitalG, Accel [press release]
Freshworks, a customer engagement software company based in the US and India, announced today the signing of definitive agreements for a US$150 million Series H round of funding at a post-financing valuation of US$3.5 billion.
The round was led by existing investors Sequoia Capital, CapitalG, and Freshworks’ first investor Accel.
The capital will be used to further Freshworks’s worldwide expansion as well as accelerate investment in its integrated SaaS platform. As part of this effort, Freshworks also announced its Customer-for-Life Cloud, which establishes a common data platform across all of the company’s customer engagement products to unify important customer information from marketing, sales, support, and customer success to enhance the never-ending customer journey.
Svasti Microfinance raises US$10M [press release]
Svasti Microfinance has raised a total of US$10 million capital from Adar Poonawalla, Nordic Microfinance Initiative (NMI) and Rajiv Dadlani Group.
Apart from expanding its branch network, Svasti will use the capital raised to expand and increase its MSME loan portfolio and provide other financial services, such as consumer finance and insurance, in partnership with other leading institutions.
In 2015, Svasti raised funds from Poonawalla, who has subsequently invested in follow-on rounds in 2017, 2018 and in the current round as well. In 2018, Svasti raised funds from Nordic Microfinance Initiative, who has also now invested again in the current round.
In addition, in the current round, Svasti has raised funds from Family offices of Nalwalas (Dubai), Kayenne Ventures (Singapore) the investment vehicle of siblings Kajal & Navin Fabiani, Patnis (Mumbai) and other HNIs led by the Rajiv Dadlani Group. Till date, Svasti has raised total capital funds of US$17 million.
Early investors in Svasti include the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, Bamboo Financial Inclusion Fund, venture capitalist Sajid Fazalbhoy and investment banker and angel investor Rajiv Dadlani.
A portion of the funds raised in the current round are being used to provide full exits to the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation.
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