Singapore Exchange said four Southeast Asian securities exchanges invited vendors to provide technology infrastructure for the Asean Trading Link, which it expects to launch toward the end of this year. The four exchanges are Bursa Malaysia, the Philippine Stock Exchange Inc., Singapore Exchange and the Stock Exchange of Thailand.
Southeast Asian ministers will study ways of lowering roaming mobile phone and text messaging charges across the region starting with Singapore and Malaysia, a minister said.
The neighbors will kick off with new telecommunications rates between their countries to be announced in two months, Rais Yatim, Malaysia’s minister of information, communications and culture told reporters in Kuala Lumpur. A letter of undertaking from Malaysian companies agreeing to the new roaming charges will be presented to Singapore next week, he said.
Tesco Corp. (TESO) of the UK and Dairy Farm International Holdings (D01.SG) of Singapore are among parties submitting second-round bids for Southeast Asian assets of French retailer Carrefour SA (CA.FR), Reuters news agency reported Sunday on its website, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.
Carrefour had set a Nov 5 deadline for second-round bids in an auction expected to draw US$1 billion ($1.3 billion), the report cited the sources as saying.
They said the auction has generated strong interest, mostly from trader buyers, the report said.
The sources also said Dairy Farm — backed by Jardine Matheson Holdings (J36.SG) — is interested in Malaysian and Singapore assets, while Tesco is interested in most of the assets up for grabs, the report said. It said companies mentioned in the report either couldn’t be reached for a comment or declined to comment.
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Britain’s Tesco (TSCO.L) and Singapore’s Dairy Farm (DAIR.SI) are among the bidders to submit second-round indicative offers for French retailer Carrefour’s (CARR.PA) Southeast Asian assets, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Sunday.
Carrefour, the world’s No. 2 retailer, had set a Nov. 5 deadline for second-round bids in an auction which is expected to fetch about US$1 billion ($1.3 billion) . The supermarket operator is selling shops in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand to focus on markets where it holds leading positions.
Net income climbed 38%t to $688 million in the third quarter ended Sept. 30 from $500 million a year earlier, the company said in a statement in Singapore today. That topped the $590.7 million average estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
The bankers include Bruno Merlino, who joins from UBS <UBSN.VX> in Singapore where he was executive director and Indonesia desk head, RBS Coutts said in a statement.
Phillip Securities starts Rotary Engineering (R07.SG) at Buy with $1.35 target price, based on 12.5x P/E, 2.5x P/B, says Dow Jones.
Phillip Securities says plant builder’s $1.1 billion contract in Saudi Arabia secured last year will offer strong foothold for subsequent ventures in Middle East, provide diversification from core Southeast Asian market.
European and Asian leaders are set to hold talks in Brussels focused on climate change and the aftermath of the global financial crisis. The Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) groups the 27-member European Union and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
That’s about 20% more than the $13.55 billion the Southeast Asian country spent under the previous five-year plan first introduced in 2006, Lee said in a statement released in Singapore today.
Expenses to establish and operate the proposed Yale-NUS College will be borne by NUS and Singapore’s government at no cost to Yale, the New Haven, Connecticut-based university said in a statement on its website. The two sides signed a non- binding memorandum of understanding on Sept. 10 for the college, which is intended to open by the fall of 2013 and accommodate about 1,000 undergraduate students initially, it said yesterday.
A consortium led by a Malaysia-based private equity firm has joined a slate of bidders including French retailer Casino <CASP.PA> and Britain’s Tesco <TSCO.L>, in bidding for some of Carrefour’s <CARR.PA> Southeast Asian assets, sources said.
Malaysia’s Navis Capital Partners has bid for Carrefour assets in Singapore and Malaysia, sources familiar with the deal told Reuters. Navis declined to comment on the deal.
Investors hardly inspired by Fraser & Neave’s (F99.SG) food business expansion, with shares +0.7% at $5.56 on light volume, unchanged from levels at end of morning session, according to Dow Jones.
Conglomerate’s Malaysia unit Fraser & Neave Holdings (3689.KU) agreed to buy 23.08% stake in Cocoaland Holdings (7205.KU) for RM54.6 million ($23.6 million), hoping to leverage on snacks maker’s Southeast Asian reach to speed up development of group’s food business.
China and the Asssociation of Southeast Asian Nations should push forward the development of an economic zone from China’s Nanning city in Guangxi province to Singapore, Caijing magazine reported on its website today, citing Zhang Yansheng, a researcher at China’s National Development and Reform Commission.
Infrastructure construction in the economic zone should be accelerated, Caijing said, citing Xu Ningning, vice secretary general of the China-Asean Business Council. Countries should ease customs’ requirements to facilitate trade in the zone, Caijing reported, citing Jiang Liansheng, vice mayor of Chongzuo city, Guangxi province.
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