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Tokyo Metro priced its shares at ¥1,200 apiece. It is expected to list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Oct. 23.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 15, 2024

Tokyo Metro raises $2.3 bln in Japan's biggest IPO in 6 years

The subway operator priced its shares at the top of its provisional range of ¥1,100 to ¥1,200, a regulatory filing from the company showed on Tuesday.
A Blade battery on display at BYD’s headquarters in Shenzhen
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 17, 2024

Apple secretly worked with BYD on long-range EV battery, sources say

Sources claim the firms teamed up around 2017 to build a battery system using lithium iron phosphate cells.
The ASML headquarters in Veldhoven, Netherlands, on Thursday. Semiconductor equipment makers such as ASML have unusually long-range views of how their customers are feeling, and at the moment, they’re flashing a caution signal for everything other than artificial intelligence.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 21, 2024

ASML shows chasm in chip land: AI winners versus everyone else

The semiconductor equipment makers’ results sparked worries about the health of the chip industry, which is being hurt by weakness in non-AI businesses.
Ryuichi Isaka, CEO of Seven & I Holdings, speaks during a news conference in Tokyo in April. Isaka is now assuring investors that the group's revenue will likely almost double by the 2030 fiscal year.
BUSINESS
Oct 24, 2024

Facing buyout bid, Seven & I tells investors sales will double by 2030

The retailer aims to reach ¥30 trillion in group sales by the 2030 fiscal year, with a greater contribution from convenience-store operations in markets abroad.
Japan's factory activity contracted in October on subdued demand and weak orders.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 24, 2024

Factory activity down for fourth straight month, private-sector survey shows

In the service sector, firms said economic weakness in Japan and overseas had prompted clients to hold back on new orders, the survey showed.
Marubeni's headquarters in Tokyo
BUSINESS
Oct 25, 2024

Marubeni-backed salmon farm starts Japan sales as part of diversification push

Wild and sea-farmed salmon is one of the areas Marubeni and its rivals have been targeting in Japan.
A Nvidia chip during the Taipei Computex expo in Taipei on May 29, 2023
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 28, 2024

How a Mumbai drugmaker is helping Putin get Nvidia AI chips

An inconspicuous pharmaceutical company exported 1,111 units of Dell Technologies' most-advanced servers to Russia in April-August of this year.
Toshiba may eventually form an alliance of companies that would corner 30% market share in the world’s power chip market, a company executive says.
BUSINESS
Oct 29, 2024

Toshiba aims for double-digit power chip market share by 2030

Toshiba could eventually form an alliance of companies that would corner 30% of the industry.
A perfect storm of political uncertainty at home and abroad is brewing for markets in Japan.
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 1, 2024

Investors in Japan place — and hedge — their bets ahead of U.S. election

Donald Trump's lead in U.S. battleground-state polls, coupled with the outcome of Sunday's Lower House election, is fueling bets on the dollar against the yen.
A worker clears away snow as last-minute grocery shoppers leave a Market Basket supermarket during a fast-moving winter storm in Plymouth, Massachusetts, on Feb. 13.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 5, 2024

In a changing climate, retailers turn to weather data predictions

Weather data, once used strictly for inventory planning, is now helping retailers localize advertising and decide when to discount seasonal items such as sweaters.
As part of the fukubukuro lineup for the New Year shopping season, Takashimaya will offer a ¥4.05 million luxury cruise ship tour to South Korea's Jeju Island and other locations.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 5, 2024

2025 New Year lucky bags to offer extraordinary experiences

Customers are seeking "a break from their daily lives," according to one department store official.
A FamilyMart convenience store in Tokyo. Around-the-corner stores iconic to Japan help the trading houses to monetize on their food and apparel businesses.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 6, 2024

Food and FamilyMart drive Itochu's half-year profit up 6%

Itochu kept its net profit forecast for the year unchanged at ¥880 billion, of which 24% is projected from food, textiles and the division where FamilyMart belongs.
Nissan sees its operating income plunging to just ¥150 billion in the fiscal year ending in March, down 70% from its previous forecast.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 7, 2024

Nissan cuts outlook and announces restructuring with 9,000 job cuts

The firm sees its operating income plunging to ¥150 billion in the fiscal year ending in March, down 70% from its previous forecast.
U.S. President Joe Biden announces a preliminary agreement with Intel for a major CHIPS and Science Act award, during a visit to the Intel Ocotillo Campus, in Chandler, Arizona, in March.
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Nov 9, 2024

Trump’s win sets off race to complete chip subsidy deals

The Biden administration is aiming to shore up one of its signature initiatives before President-elect Donald Trump enters the White House.
Yasushi Itagaki, head of MUFG’s global commercial banking business, says the banking group aims to push up its buyouts and investment in India, and increase annual returns from them to 20% in 10 years.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 11, 2024

MUFG seeks acquisitions in India to drive growth, targeting 20% returns

Japan's largest lender is competing with a slew of global peers to expand in the world’s fastest-growing major economy.
People walk along Wall Street in New York.
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 11, 2024

Wall Street math wizards are decoding private-market returns

Decoding such illiquid investments is fraught with pitfalls, however, as many modeling mortgage bonds and derivatives before the financial crisis would testify.
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump with the then-leader of Vietnam's Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong, at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi in February 2019
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 12, 2024

Vietnam may find it harder to profit from new U.S.-China trade war

Its growing trade surplus with the U.S. — which is fourth-largest, after China, Mexico and Canada — will likely put it in U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's sights.
Nojima will purchase about 93% of Vaio's outstanding shares from investment fund Japan Industrial Partners.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 12, 2024

Nojima to acquire PC company Vaio for ¥11.2 billion

Sony will continue to hold a 4.7% stake in Vaio.
Nissan’s filing said Suntera (Cayman) is the buyer of the 2.5% stake and listed Suntera as a trustee of ECM Master Fund.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 12, 2024

Nissan surges after firm linked to hedge fund takes 2.5% stake

The jump is a remarkable turnaround for Nissan’s stock, which plunged last week after the carmaker slashed jobs and said it would cut manufacturing capacity by a fifth.
Rakuten's sale of 15% stake in its credit card arm to Mizuho Financial Group would give the e-commerce pioneer a one-time gain of ¥159.4 billion in the current quarter.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 14, 2024

Rakuten sells Mizuho 15% of credit card arm for ¥165 billion

The sale would give the e-commerce pioneer a one-time gain of ¥159.4 billion in the current quarter, Rakuten said in a statement Wednesday.
Nissan and its group firms have about $1.6 billion of debt due next year, a slight decrease from 2024, but that figure will jump to around $5.6 billion in 2026, the most in Bloomberg-compiled data going back to 1996.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 15, 2024

Nissan faces record debt bill with one year left to fix finances

The automaker and its group firms are seen having about $5.6 billion in debt due in 2026.
Japanese companies lack the agility needed for the digital transformation, a new report says.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 15, 2024

Japan ranked 31st in digital competitiveness, 92nd for English skills

In the 2024 EF English Proficiency Index, Japan was ranked 92nd, down from 87 the previous year. It was its worst showing yet.
Japan’s megabanks have resumed trading activities with Nomura Holdings, people with knowledge of the matter said.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 18, 2024

Nomura's trading clients return after market manipulation probe

Many of the firms returned to Nomura after the brokerage explained measures it is taking to prevent a recurrence of the breach, sources said.
Sony already has a 2% stake in Kadokawa and a stake in Kadokawa subsidiary FromSoftware, the developer of Elden Ring.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 19, 2024

Sony in talks to buy media powerhouse behind Elden Ring, sources say

The talks between the two sides are ongoing and, if successful, a deal could be signed in the coming weeks.
Huawei’s struggles reflect how years of U.S. sanctions have scored initial success at freezing Chinese technology advancements at current levels, and deprived its national champions of the chance to graduate to the next level.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 20, 2024

China’s chip advances stall as U.S. curbs hit Huawei AI product

Huawei's hurdle has implications for China's broader ambitions, suggesting the country will lag further behind the U.S. in 2025 when newer chips emerge.
People walk near the entrance of the venue of the United Nations climate change conference COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 20, 2024

Development banks seek private money for climate change fight

Development banks committed to increasing their lending to poorer countries to $120 billion a year by 2030.
Tokyo Gas’ LNG terminal in Sodegaura, Chiba Prefecture
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 20, 2024

Tokyo Gas shares jump most since 1987 after activist fund discloses major stake

Elliott Investment Management said it now owns more than 5% of Tokyo Gas and may make "important proposals” to the utility provider.
Korea Zinc Chairman Yun B. Choi, a grandson of a co-founder, last week agreed to scrap a controversial plan to issue new shares in the zinc refiner to help fend off a takeover attempt.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 21, 2024

Korea Zinc takeover battle tests Seoul's resolve on tackling 'Korea discount'

South Korean firms tend to have lower valuations compared to their overseas peers due to low dividend payouts and the dominance of family-run conglomerates.
A view of the city skyline and Huangpu river in Shanghai on Feb. 24, 2022
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 25, 2024

China's startups suffer as investors exercise redemption rights

The situation conflicts with the government's resolve to foster innovation and achieve technological self-reliance in systemically important industries.
The Google campus in Mountain View, California, on May 2
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 26, 2024

Google arguments draw skepticism from judge in ad tech case

The case is one of several against Google over antitrust issues.

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Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear