SoftBank Group Corp. is buying alternative-asset manager Fortress Investment Group LLC for $3.3 billion in cash to operate alongside the Japanese company’s soon-to-be-established technology investment fund. Japan’s SoftBank will pay $8.08 a share for New York-based Fortress, a 39 percent premium to the company’s Feb. 13 closing price, according to a statement Tuesday.
Category: Japan
Jazz Pianist Turns Hedge Fund Quant With Sale of Options Startup
Larry Richards, a trained jazz pianist and former phone-company executive, is an unlikely entrepreneur in the esoteric world of stock options. Just three years after taking an online course on equity derivatives, Richards set up his own company in 2013 to develop trading software for individual investors and small funds.
Toyota Faces Trump Trade Heat and Flagging Demand in the U.S.
Toyota Motor Corp. recently ceded its title as the world’s best-selling automaker to arch-rival Volkswagen AG. Yet the Japanese company’s biggest adversary this year may be U.S. President Donald Trump.
Sharp Trims Full-Year Loss Outlook on Cost Cuts, Display Profits
Sharp Corp. narrowed its full-year loss outlook after posting its first quarterly profit in more than two years, lifted by cost reductions and a turnaround in the display business. The net loss will reach 37.2 billion yen in the year ending March 31, the Osaka-based company reported on Friday.
Japan’s – Unresolved’ Disaster Sways Symbol of Nuclear Opposition
The man blocking the world’s largest nuclear plant says he grew opposed to atomic energy the same way some people fall in love. Previously an advocate for nuclear power in Japan, Ryuichi Yoneyama campaigned against the restart of the facility as part of his successful gubernatorial race last year in Niigata.
SAPVoice: How High-Tech Investments Make Smart Cities
My conversations with customers around the world often turn to the rise of technology companies — but not Google, Apple, IBM or even SAP-type technology companies. We talk about Airbnb, GO-JEK, Under Armour, Uber and others.
Takeda Expands Cancer Business With $4.66 Billion Ariad Deal
Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. will expand its footprint in the U.S. oncology market with the $4.66 billion purchase of Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc., adding one potential blockbuster in lung cancer and another already on-the-market therapy.
Toyota Will Take Trump’s Decisions Into Account on Mexico Plant
Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda said he’ll take U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s decisions into account when planning for the automaker’s Mexican operations, after Ford Motor Co. scrapped plans to build a new plant there.
No Room For The Inn as Japanese Informal Accommodation Booms
All is not well in the world of Japanese hospitality. There appears to be a structural shift under way in the market that investors should not ignore.
Japan’s Rust Belt Counting on Robonomics to Run Assembly Lines
A withering factory town in Japan’s Rust Belt is looking for revival through a dose of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s “robot revolution.” Kadoma’s population has declined 13 percent as the nation ages, prompting mergers among elementary schools and emergency services departments.