Daily Briefing: CMA CGM taps banks for NOL acquisition; HDB to focus on older towns

And here’s the deal on alternative loan sources in Singapore.

France’s CMA CGM SA is in talks with banks including BNP Paribas Group, HSBC Holdings PLC. and J.P. Morgan & Chase Co. to raise money to finance the acquisition of Singapore shipping company Neptune Orient Lines Ltd. in a deal valued at around $5 billion, people with knowledge of the deal said Thursday. Read more here.

HDB manages 26 towns and housing estates, of which some are decades-old, while others are newly-built. But even as new Build-To-Order (BTO) launches are rolled out, the agency remains committed to upgrading existing estates. In fact, it expanded its upgrading programme during the financial year 2014/2015 to more towns, resulting in the upgrading segment registering a deficit of $574 million, up from $568 million in the previous financial year. Find out more here.

In the last few years, there has been a revival of pawn shops, rebranded, renewed, and looking sparklingly modern with glass doors and young customer service officers to give it a new spin. Gone are the days of the ubiquitous silver bars and ancient-looking storefronts. Read more here.