Daily Briefing: Singapore eyes Asia for growth amidst trade tensions; GIC and US private equity firm buy chemicals business for US$12.6b

And Singtel Innov8 adds an Australian satellite company to its lineup of investments.

From Deal Street Asia:

Dutch chemicals firm Akzo Nobel sold its speciality chemicals business to GIC and US private equity firm Carlyle Group for €10.1b (US$12.6b), including debt.

“The net proceeds of the deal are expected to amount to €7.5b euros, Akzo said, with the bulk going to shareholders. Akzo first announced plans to sell the business, which accounts for a third of its sales and profit, in April, as it looked to evade a takeover from rival PPG Industries.

The company considered both a private sale and a separate stock listing for the chemicals division, ultimately concluding that a sale to Carlyle was in the best interest for all involved ‘including employees, shareholders and customers.’”

Read more here.

From Bloomberg Finance:

Economic Development Board chairman Beh Swan Gin told Bloomberg in an interview that Asia remains a “growth favourite” for business amidst the trade tensions between the US and China that are feared to to escalate into a full-blown trade war

“‘Singapore is very fortunate, Asian countries in general are very fortunate because we are in the middle of a growth engine,’ Beh Swan Gin, chairman of the EDB, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television’s Haslinda Amin on Tuesday.

‘Asia is somewhat insulated from this -- not totally of course -- but it can provide upside that can mitigate some of the downside if indeed there is a major dispute between the U.S. and China,’ he said.”

Read more here.

From Deal Street Asia:

Singtel’s venture capital arm Singtel Innov8 invested US$15m in Australian satellite company Myriota during its Series A funding.

“The round, which Myriota claims to be the largest to date for a tech startup using ‘Space 2.0 for IoT’, was led by Australian VC firms Main Sequence Ventures and Blue Sky Venture Capital. It was also joined by Boeing Horizon X Ventures and Right Click Capital. The funding marks the first investment outside the US for the venture capital arm of Boeing.”

Read more here.