Will Microsoft and Activision Blizzard finally get the green light? August 22, 2023 Britain’s competition watchdog faces a tough call on whether to wave through Microsoft and Activision Blizzard’s merger as the EU and the US have done, but a green light could be down the road, experts have suggested. Microsoft’s renewed $69bn acquisition offer for gaming giant Activision Blizzard has triggered a new probe by the Competition [...]
Microsoft offers new Activision Blizzard deal to UK competition watchdog August 22, 2023 Microsoft has put a fresh deal on the table for its $69bn (£55bn) acquisition of gaming giant Activision Blizzard, triggering a new investigation by Britain’s competition watchdog. On Tuesday the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) confirmed it is blocking the original deal to protect consumer choice in cloud gaming. However, Microsoft has submitted a fresh [...]
Arm announces Nasdaq float in largest US IPO in 2 years August 22, 2023 SoftBank-owned chip designer Arm has confirmed it will float on New York’s Nasdaq next month in what will be the largest US initial public offering (IPO) in almost two years. Arm, which licenses its chip designs to tech giants like Apple, Nvidia, and Qualcomm, has said the offering is being led by Barclays, Goldman Sachs, [...]
ARM muscles up for bumper IPO with $70bn valuation and 28 rostered banks August 22, 2023 SoftBank Group Corp’s Arm Holdings Ltd reported a 1% fall in annual revenue due to a slowdown in smartphone sales, after the chip designer disclosed the paperwork for an initial public offering (IPO) that is expected to be the largest of the year. Arm’s stock market launch is expected to bring back to life a lackluster IPO [...]
Zoom: Share bump after pumping up full year guidance August 22, 2023 Pandemic darling Zoom beat expectations and raised full year guidance in its second quarter as it remains hopeful in its long-term strategy - although customer growth is sluggish.
London SMEs committing over half of annual revenue to tech investment, data reveals August 22, 2023 London’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are ramping up their tech budgets, allocating over half of their annual revenue to technology investments, according to a report by Barclays. In the capital, SMEs are directing an average of 54 per cent of their annual revenue to technology investments, such as data analytics and artificial intelligence tools, [...]
Mass tech layoffs appear to be over – so when will the hiring start again? August 21, 2023 The episode of mass job cuts across the tech sector appears to have drawn to a close, with some research firms halting their regular data updates on tech layoffs. Tech analysts at Bernstein Research declared the “magnitude of tech layoffs” has settled after its peak in January, in an email sent to clients last Friday [...]
Tech firm plots London listing (yes, really) in boost to barren IPO market August 21, 2023 A compliance tech firm which help financial firms navigate regulation is plotting a move on to London Stock Exchange in a boost to the City after a barren first six months of the year, according to reports.
UK firms asked to disclose China investments as Sunak mulls trade curbs August 21, 2023 A host of British firms have been asked by the government to hand over information on their investments in China, as the UK looks to take stock of its business ties to the state amid increasing geopolitical tensions. The government confirmed today that a survey was sent to a number of UK firms last month [...]
Klarna going ‘all in on AI’ to fuel super-app push August 21, 2023 Klarna is “going all in on AI” as it looks to push beyond its buy-now pay-later bread and butter and take on banks on cheap lending, its global chief said.