Private equity firm Apis Partners has raised $1.23 billion for its latest generation of funds that will invest in financial infrastructure and services. The London-based firm reached the final close for Apis Global Growth Fund III and Apis Growth Markets Fund III, securing 23% more than its target, according to a statement seen by Bloomberg News. That’s more than double the $563 million it raised ...
Private equity firm Apis Partners has raised $1.23 billion for its latest generation of funds that will invest in financial infrastructure and services. The London-based firm reached the final close for Apis Global Growth Fund III and Apis Growth Markets Fund III, securing 23% more than its target, according to a statement seen by Bloomberg News. That’s more than double the $563 million it raised for a predecessor vehicle. Apis is betting that the underlying architecture of global money flows will remain stable despite the geopolitical volatility. The new fund plans to take minority stakes in high growth, tech-enabled financial infrastructure and services businesses in Europe, as well as emerging markets like Southeast Asia, India and Africa. The firm has about $2.3 billion under management. It’s invested in companies including Asian payment platform KPay, British wealth management app Moneybox and South African digital bank TymeBank. Apis is run by co-founders Matteo Stefanel , a former partner at Abraaj Group , and Udayan Goyal , who was previously a banker at Deutsche Bank AG .
Angola’s Cabinda oil refinery, among the first to be built in Africa in decades, has started shipping fuel, helping the crude producer bolster domestic supply and reduce reliance on imports. The plant, built at a cost of more than $470 million, is supplying diesel to the domestic market, and shipping heavy fuel oil and petrochemical ingredient naphtha to international buyers, according to executiv...
Angola’s Cabinda oil refinery, among the first to be built in Africa in decades, has started shipping fuel, helping the crude producer bolster domestic supply and reduce reliance on imports. The plant, built at a cost of more than $470 million, is supplying diesel to the domestic market, and shipping heavy fuel oil and petrochemical ingredient naphtha to international buyers, according to executives at Gemcorp Capital LLP , an investment firm that owns 90% of the refinery. A roaring flame from the flare tower could be seen on a tour of the plant in Cabinda province, Angola’s oil-rich exclave. Its output is well timed as the war in Iran has disrupted fuel supply, led to a surge in prices across Africa and is accelerating a push in the continent to expand refining capacity. “The very core of the investment thesis for this refinery was energy security for Angola,” Atanas Bostandjiev , Gemcorp’s founder and CEO, said in an interview at the site. “Fast forward this to what we’re seeing geopolitically — with the crisis in the Middle East — that whole thesis now got validated.” The London-based investment company took over the project from another developer about six years ago and plans to double its 30,000 barrel-a-day capacity in a second phase that will cost an estimated $700 million. While relatively small, the Cabinda refinery is the first to be built since Angola’s independence in 1975 and will produce enough fuel to meet a tenth of local demand. That’s set to grow when capacity doubles to 60,000 barrels per day, with Gemcorp targeting financial close this year for the expansion. Dangote Faces Surge in Fuel Demand as War Disrupts Africa Supply High Oil Prices Cut Both Ways for Africa’s Top Crude Producer Vivo Energy Converting Durban Refinery Into Fuel Storage Hub Africa exports three quarters of its crude production and imports 70% of refined fuel including gasoline, diesel and kerosene, Farid Ghezali, secretary general of the African Petroleum Producers’ Organizati...
The torrid stock rally in Asian chipmakers is driving a divergence between China’s two internet giants, with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. gaining an edge over rival Tencent Holdings Ltd. due to investor enthusiasm about its ambitious semiconductor unit. Shares of Alibaba, which plans to list its chipmaking arm T-Head, have rallied 11% this week, versus about 2% for Tencent that focuses more on artif...
The torrid stock rally in Asian chipmakers is driving a divergence between China’s two internet giants, with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. gaining an edge over rival Tencent Holdings Ltd. due to investor enthusiasm about its ambitious semiconductor unit. Shares of Alibaba, which plans to list its chipmaking arm T-Head, have rallied 11% this week, versus about 2% for Tencent that focuses more on artificial intelligence models and applications. Alibaba’s outperformance comes as Asian chipmaking titans from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to Samsung Electronics Co. have extended a bull run to record highs, reinforcing the hardware-driven theme of the popular AI trade. In contrast, Tencent has lagged behind, with its recent major AI model upgrade struggling to convince investors about its competitiveness in the fierce AI race. The two firms’ smaller peer Baidu Inc. , which also has a chip subsidiary, has seen its stock jump nearly 17% this week. “Investors are completely locked-in on AI beneficiaries and Tencent is not seen as one,” said Vey-Sern Ling , managing director at Union Bancaire Privee. “From chip to model to cloud, Alibaba has it all.”
Short on sleep but flush with new funds, the head of Australian data center operator NEXTDC Ltd. has a message to investors: You snooze, you lose. NEXTDC Chief Executive Officer Craig Scroggie on Thursday told a packed Macquarie Australia Conference in Sydney that he’d slept for only three hours the previous night while NEXTDC goes on a fundraising tear. Since Tuesday, the company has secured A$3....
Short on sleep but flush with new funds, the head of Australian data center operator NEXTDC Ltd. has a message to investors: You snooze, you lose. NEXTDC Chief Executive Officer Craig Scroggie on Thursday told a packed Macquarie Australia Conference in Sydney that he’d slept for only three hours the previous night while NEXTDC goes on a fundraising tear. Since Tuesday, the company has secured A$3.5 billion ($2.5 billion) in extra money, roughly split between debt commitments from banks and a sale of hybrid securities. “This is not the time to go on holiday, go to sleep, rest or do anything else,” Scroggie told the event, one of Australia’s largest gatherings of institutional investors and equity analysts. “This is the time to hit the gas and take advantage of the single most significant industrial transformation in history.” NEXTDC is raising capital to expand its network of Australian data centers, and said in April that it would undertake a A$1.5 billion ($1.1 billion) capital raising, boosting its coffers as demand for capacity at its facilities surges. It’s one of hundreds of companies worldwide racing to provide infrastructure for an artificial intelligence boom that will consume trillions of dollars. Read More: Hyperscaler AI Capex Spending Surge Headed Toward $5 Trillion Demand for data centers far exceeds supply, a dynamic that won’t change any time in the next two to three years, Scroggie told the conference. Scroggie is a software engineer turned AI evangelist. With a gray beard and flowing locks, and wearing jeans and an open black shirt, he looked far unlike the suited fund managers who filled the room. NEXTDC shares have jumped 19% this year, swelling the company’s market value to about A$11 billion. Its initial public offering in 2010 raised A$40 million. To be sure, there are lingering concerns that some privately-owned data center operators will struggle to service their debts, and that AI investments by tech giants such as Meta Platforms Inc. will f...
White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles on Wednesday said the U.S. government would avoid picking winners and losers in artificial intelligence, underscoring the Trump administration’s market-driven approach as it prepares a new set of AI policy directives. Wiles issued the statement from her new account on X, as questions swirl about whether the administration will seek to screen new models and if...
White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles on Wednesday said the U.S. government would avoid picking winners and losers in artificial intelligence, underscoring the Trump administration’s market-driven approach as it prepares a new set of AI policy directives. Wiles issued the statement from her new account on X, as questions swirl about whether the administration will seek to screen new models and if it will deescalate its feud with Anthropic PBC ( ANTHRO ). " This administration has one goal; ensure the best and safest tech is deployed rapidly to defeat any and all threats." Dear readers: We recognize that politics often intersects with the financial news of the day, so we invite you to click here to join the separate political discussion. More on Anthropic, Alphabet, etc. Alphabet Is Benefiting As AI-Generated Code Increases Alphabet's $460B AI Lock-In Alphabet: The $108.6 Billion Warning That Made Me Bullish Again OpenAI, Anthropic going after AI services an attempt to expand distribution ASAP: Jefferies Rivals turn partners as Anthropic inks deal to secure computing power from xAI's Colossus 1
undefined Global fertility rates are dropping sharply. World Bank data show the global total fertility rate, or TFR, fell to 2.2 in 2023 from 2.7 in 2000. Two-thirds of countries now report TFRs below 2.1, the replacement level required for stable populations. China’s TFR hit 1.0 in 2023 and is projected to slip below that threshold by 2025. Artificial intelligence threatens to accelerate this dec...
undefined Global fertility rates are dropping sharply. World Bank data show the global total fertility rate, or TFR, fell to 2.2 in 2023 from 2.7 in 2000. Two-thirds of countries now report TFRs below 2.1, the replacement level required for stable populations. China’s TFR hit 1.0 in 2023 and is projected to slip below that threshold by 2025. Artificial intelligence threatens to accelerate this decline. AI Expands the Landscape of Entertainment How AI depresses fertility