BOAO, Hainan - China's property market, which has experienced disparate fortunes across the country over recent months, is unlikely to see a hard landing, experts have said at an ongoing forum. "It's indisputable that the property market of some cities is entering an adjustment period, but it goes too far to say the market has reached the edge of collapse," said Zhu Zhongyi, vice-president of the China Real Estate Industry Association, at the annual meeting of the Boao Real Estate Forum in South China's Hainan province.
Updated 6 Years ago

Chile has increased the budget for the construction of the new Los Libertadores border complex by 52% and has delayed the tender for the third time this year. Public works ministry MOP raised the budget from US$55mn to US$84mn, increasing interest among construction companies.
Updated 6 Years ago

Many emerging markets are undergoing a demographic transition, with populations aging at a faster rate than developed countries, which could weaken their economic growth in the next two decades, according to a report from Moody's Investors Service. The report states that aging populations will affect the economy in the 2015-30 period by diminishing the workforce and reducing household saving rates, which in turn will weaken investment and lead to considerably lower economic growth.
Updated 6 Years ago

While there have been persistent reports, including one in Forbes Friday, that the Chinese e-commerce giant was going to make a big investment in the popular Los Angeles-area ephemeral messaging company, numerous sources familiar with the situation said that this is not happening. While the two companies did have initial discussions in the past, these sources added, those talks have been long over, even before an initial report about a possible Alibaba investment in Snapchat from Bloomberg last month.
Updated 6 Years ago

Here are three completely crazy insights about BuzzFeed, the viral content start-up: 1. BuzzFeed is a web traffic sensation that draws 150 million average monthly viewers. 2. Numbered lists, like this one, are what the site is most famous for and drive much of its audience. 3. BuzzFeed wants to be known for much, much more.
Updated 6 Years ago

Kinder Morgan is bringing all of its publicly traded units under one roof in a $70 billion deal that reshapes the financial structure of the oil and gas pipeline company. The deal will create a company worth $140 billion including debt that combines Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, Kinder Morgan Inc withKinder Morgan Management and El Paso Pipeline Partners.
Updated 6 Years ago

It was 8:30 in the morning on Aug. 1, which meant the U.S. Labor Department’s monthly wage data had just been released. One day earlier, the 46-year-old co-founder of NineAlpha Capital LP, a hedge fund specializing in U.S. government debt, detected signs of bearishness in the bond market after a report showed employment costs rose by the most since 2008.
Updated 6 Years ago

PT Bumi Resources (BUMI), Asia’s most indebted coal-mining company, sweetened the terms of a $375 million bond exchange offer a second time in a bid to avoid default. The Jakarta-based company sent a letter to bondholders Aug. 7 seeking to extend the notes’ maturity to April 2018, and lower the coupon to 6 percent from 9.25 percent, according to the document, a copy of which was obtained by Bloomberg News. The debt was originally due Aug. 5, and Bumi has a grace period which expires tomorrow.
Updated 6 Years ago

US oil giant ExxonMobil and Russia’s Rosneft will continue joint exploitation of the Russian Arctic despite Western sanctions, the American company said as the two giants launched exploration drilling in the Kara Sea. "Our cooperation is a long-term one. We see great benefits here and are ready to continue working here with your agreement,” Glenn Waller, ExxonMobil's lead manager in Russia, told President Vladimir Putin during a videoconference call.
Updated 6 Years ago

The offer is worth A$3.4bn (£1.88bn; $3.17bn) and has come from an as-yet unnamed global private equity firm. Earlier this month, the US private equity giant KKR launched a renewed bid for the winemaker.
Updated 6 Years ago