Daily Briefing: GIC to buy 15% stake in India's GMR Airports; Singapore government to invest in cell therapy manufacturing

And here’s why technologists pull out of global banks in Singapore and Hong Kong.

From Bloomberg:

A consortium of India’s Tata Group, a unit of Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC and SSG Capital Management will invest $1.57b (₹80b) to buy a stake in GMR Airports Ltd, which runs India’s biggest airport.

The deal will pump $195.9m (₹10b) into GMR Airports, a unit of GMR Infrastructure Ltd. and purchase $1.37b (₹70b) rupees of the airport unit’s equity shares from the parent, according to a statement. GMR operates Delhi International Airport Ltd., Asia’s sixth biggest.

After the purchase, Tata will hold 20% in the airport unit, whilst GIC will get 15% and SSG will own 10%, the company said in a filing. The deal, which values GMR Airports at $3.5b (₹180b), will bring down the group’s consolidated debt by 40% to $2.35b (₹120b), its Chief Financial Officer Sushil Modi told reporters in Mumbai.

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From Channel News Asia:

Following a mid-term review of its five-year science and technology plan, Singapore will pump in more money to boost research and development (R&D) efforts in three key areas, namely digital technologies, cell therapy manufacturing and food security.

Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat, who is also the chairman of the National Research Foundation (NRF), was speaking alongside Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing and National Development Minister Lawrence Wong at a press conference held at the end of the 11th Research, Innovation and Enterprise Council (RIEC) meeting.

In his opening remarks, Mr Lee said the elements of research, innovation and enterprise are critical to Singapore's development.

There has been progress since the RIEC journey began in 2006 to deepen the nation's science and technology capabilities along the whole value chain. This includes international recognition and significant breakthroughs for local scientists, as well as foreign companies such as Dyson setting up their advanced product development facilities here.

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From eFinancialCareers:

A growing number of technologists in Hong Kong and Singapore are pulling out of hiring processes prematurely as sluggish global banks take too long to recruit them and nimble tech firms get offers in more quickly.

Whilst banks’ hiring time frames may not be too long in some of their job functions, demand for technologists is strong.

US banks, in particular J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs, are particularly slow in their tech hiring, says a Singapore-based recruiter, who asked not to be named because he works with the firms. A Goldman technologist, who joined the firm early this year, told us he received a job offer five months after sending in his application. “I did three coding tests on three separate days, each taking about 1.5 hours, and had five interview rounds – all very spaced out,” he says. Goldman did not respond to a request to comment on its tech hiring.

Read more here.