Business News

Alphabet’s autonomous-driving unit is targeting a 2028 commercial launch through its own app, days after Grab said it would expand its WeRide-powered fleet fivefold and push beyond Punggol in the north-east region.

The non-recourse credit facility extends financing for the A.P. Moller Capital-backed developer after a $30 Mn green-bond transaction in Vietnam.

ALDI SÜD has acquired an undisclosed minority stake in DALI Everyday Grocery. But seven share-allotment filings, a Venturi top-up and investments made through different entities leave the Philippines-based hard-discount retailer’s current ownership unresolved in freely accessible records.

The undisclosed investment amount from a new ¥3 Bn CVC fund underscores the Japanese group’s push into digital services while anchoring a powerful enterprise partner in the mental health space.

Six sovereign and pension investors have created a new institutional network spanning China and Southeast Asia, alongside a separately governed private equity platform that has already drawn about $520 Mn towards a $1 Bn target.

Educated in Singapore, fluent in five languages and the founder of curated fashion brand La Beauté by Sara, Sara O’Sullivan has built a life shaped by fashion, education and creativity — a journey that began in Montenegro and now reaches from Singapore to Paris.

Nasdaq Ventures’ investment in Transient.AI brings Wall Street backing to its effort to move agentic AI from institutional experiments into regulated financial workflows. In Asia Pacific, the company is pairing its bank-grade technology with a leadership team drawn from UBS, GIC and other established institutions.

Grab already offers its BNPL service PayLater across Atome’s five Southeast Asian markets. The acquisition gives it a faster route to credit scale, underwriting history and funding relationships without rebuilding them market by market.

The logistics firm is folding acquired businesses onto a common operating platform as it builds a cross-border network for Southeast Asian merchants.

The private equity firm sold its entire 19.9% holding to Angsana Finance weeks after First Philippine Holdings rejected a proposal that could have nearly doubled KKR’s stake and led to First Gen’s delisting.

The five-week-old Indonesian AI infrastructure platform will use the debt to acquire and deploy Nvidia GPUs, initially in Indonesia before expanding across ASEAN.

The Tundra Capital-led Series A will support regulatory programmes, market entry and hiring across five overseas markets.

The USDC issuer is acquiring a design partner in its own payments network, bringing local payout infrastructure in-house as it pushes deeper into cross-border commerce.

Telkom is testing investor appetite for NeutraDC as AI demand, scarce power and high occupancy drive up data centre valuations across Asia. A majority divestment could unlock value and ease the next capex cycle, but it may also mean surrendering control before the asset’s strongest growth phase.

Malaysian private hospitals are growing rapidly as global investment firms pour cash into the sector. However, rising medical costs and widening underwriting losses at insurance companies could make it difficult for these expanding networks to turn a profit.

Stonepeak and I Squared Capital are racing to build competing cold-chain platforms across ASEAN, deploying rival strategies in Indonesia and the Philippines as institutional capital rewrites the rules of a sector long dominated by local operators.

Josephine Teo underscored three AI commitments for Singapore’s 2027 ASEAN chairmanship. The trade tool its business federation is building in Jakarta answers the first, and arrives in the same quarter the EU opens to Indonesian goods.

Zetrix AI is buying Next Lion’s 50% stake in MYEG Ventures, raising its effective interest in MYEG Philippines to 74.5%. Signed during a four-session equity collapse that erased two-thirds of its value, the deal has already required a regulatory correction.

AngelAi now says it plans to expand its operational footprint across North America and Asia-Pacific.

The Temasek-owned real estate manager is combining private-fund capital, a Malaysian joint venture and direct co-investments to scale logistics development across Malaysia, Vietnam and India, where it sees better risk-reward in building assets than buying established properties.

The Singapore-based digital-transformation platform is extending its regional acquisition strategy into Malaysia, while VSTECS exits a seven-year investment with total cash returns of 3.46x its original cost.

The Singapore software firm is targeting a widening gap between AI adoption and integration, adding new capabilities to existing applications while retaining systems that work.

The Singapore-listed trust is buying two fully occupied hyperscale assets in power-constrained Greater Tokyo, where Keppel estimates existing rents are at least 30% below market.

Indonesia’s Salim Group has acquired full ownership of IndoData Center, formerly IndoKeppel Data Centres, buying out 40% JV partner Keppel Data Centres. The deal was completed in December 2025 but was not disclosed immediately.

Two Vietnam-linked app businesses have turned to Singapore’s PvX Partners for non-dilutive growth financing within days. The deals put a rarely spotlighted part of Vietnam’s technology economy in focus. Companies can build games and apps for global users, but need a different kind of capital to reach them.

The deal’s completion caps a two-year transition for the investors, scaling Singtel’s digital footprint independently of Nxera and expanding KKR’s Southeast Asian infrastructure play.

Pothos Fund I is targeting more mature growth companies that need expansion capital but may no longer want to finance every new phase through equity. The bet comes as Southeast Asia’s headline funding numbers increasingly mask a market where capital is concentrating around fewer, larger deals.

TPG is evaluating a dual-track exit for Asia OneHealthcare, targeting a valuation of approximately RM30 Bn through an IPO or a trade sale. Although the healthcare operator offers significant scale, its valuation will depend on how public and private markets weigh its rapid expansion against near-term financial loss.

An indicative RM2.35-a-share proposal to privatise Malaysian energy infrastructure group Yinson Holdings Bhd highlights a persistent valuation gap as its core offshore production unit transitions from a capital-heavy build cycle to long-duration operating cash flows.

As Asia-Pacific businesses look beyond domestic markets, Singapore is emerging as a meeting point for founders, investors, technology companies and institutions shaping the region’s next phase of growth.