Daily Briefing: CDL to sell Penang hotel as part of portfolio review amidst COVID-19; Appboxo snags $1.47m seed funding

And MOT may review 2040 target for vehicles in SG to be low emission.

From ChannelNewsAsia:

City Developments Limited (CDL) said on 14 December that its hotel arm has agreed to sell a Penang hotel for about $25m, as part of moves to streamline its portfolio amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

This will be the third non-core hotel asset that Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (M&C) has agreed to sell since the start of the year.

The three assets have a combined sales value of more than $100m.

M&C is selling the 318-room Copthorne Orchid Hotel & Resort Penang in Malaysia to Bursa-listed Ivory Properties Group Berhad, said CDL in a press release.

The sale includes the freehold land that the hotel resides on, the hotel, as well as all fixtures, fittings, equipment and tangible personal property, in respect of the hotel.

Read more here.

From e27:

Appboxo, a Singapore-based app integration platform, announced on 14 December  that it has secured $1.47m (US$1.1m) in seed funding led by FF APAC Scout, a Founders Fund scout vehicle, 500 Startups’ Southeast Asia-focused 500 Durians fund, Plug and Play Ventures, and Antler.

As per a press release, the startup plans to use the fresh funds to scale its platform and further develop its proprietary technology.

Appboxo said it plans to add new mini apps in travel, e-commerce, finance, and lifestyle industries to cover more use cases for integrations by super apps.

Established in 2019 by Kaniyet Rayev (CEO) and Nursultan Keneshbekov (CTO) through the Antler Singapore programme, Appboxo enables any app to become a super app by providing integration software to allow the launching of mini apps within other native super apps.

Through such integrations, the platform aims to act as a link and create an ecosystem of interconnected mini apps, allowing for global partnerships across industries.

Read more here.

From ChannelNewsAsia:

The Ministry of Transport is considering a review to bring forward its 2040 target for all vehicles in Singapore to be low emission vehicles, said Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung on 11 December.

Several factors need to be considered, including increasing the capacity of the charging infrastructure, he added.

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat said in his Budget speech in February that the Government's vision is to phase out internal combustion engine vehicles and have all vehicles run on cleaner energy by 2040.

The Government will introduce the electric vehicle Early Adoption Incentive, where those who buy fully electric cars and taxis will receive a rebate of up to 45 per cent on the Addition Registration Fee, said Mr Heng in February. Such a rebate is capped at $20,000.

The Land Transport Authority said the initiative will run from 1 January 2021 to 31 January 2023 and will cost the government about $71m over the next three years.

Read more here.