China’s Chip Fund; Alibaba’s Cloud Round; Indonesia Telecoms Talks

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China Throws Money at Chips

China is taking further steps towards bolstering its domestic semiconductor industry, as the state-backed China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund establishes its third and largest investment pool, at approximately RMB300bn. This money will go towards chipmaking and research, Reuters reported, with the finance ministry potentially contributing some 20% of the total. Known as the Big Fund, it has backed some of the country’s top chip firms, including Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation [0981.HK] and Hua Hong Semiconductor [1347.HK].

Alibaba’s Cloud Division Weighs Funding Round

Alibaba’s [BABA] cloud division, the Cloud Intelligence Group, is reportedly considering a private funding round, with a view to bringing in funds from state-owned enterprises prior to its IPO in Hong Kong. The round could raise between RMB10bn and RMB20bn. Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Catherine Lim and Marvin Lo wrote that this could increase the division’s chances of securing government contracts, and boost its potential listing value to more than $55bn.

Floundering Adyen Moves to Reassure Investors

Dutch fintech Adyen NV [ADYEN.AS] had been renowned for posting revenue growth of at least 26% every half year since it listed in 2018. But on August 17 the company posted its slowest-ever revenue growth, and its market value has dropped more than €21bn since then, prompting the company to schedule an investor day in November. Elsewhere in the payments space, Barclays [BARC.L] is planning to sell a minority stake in its £3bn UK merchant services payments unit.

Is a Major Merger on the Cards in Indonesian Telecommunications?

Axiata [6888.KL] — Malaysia’s biggest telecoms company, and owner of PT XL Axiata [EXCL.JK] — and the Indonesian conglomerate PT Sinar Mas Group — owner of PT Smartfren Telecom [SMMA.JK] — have renewed talks regarding the merger of their respective Indonesian operations, Bloomberg reports. Smartfren’s share price rocketed 25% on the news. Talks between the two have broken down in the past, however, and both companies have been careful not to raise expectations.

Thoma Bravo Could be Close to Buyout of NextGen

NextGen Healthcare’s [NXGN] share price rose 6.2% last Friday, bringing its market value to some $1.3bn. This was followed this week by reports that technology investor Thoma Bravo is close to announcing a buyout of the health records software company. Thoma Bravo has closed several major deals of late, with the most recent being the $3.6bn sale of software-maker Imperva to Thales SA [HO.PA] in July.