VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Canada is trying to get their infrastructure as quickly as possible to spur growth.

Twitter has told potential acquirers it is seeking to conclude negotiations about selling itself by the time it reports third-quarter earnings on October 27, that is according to the people familiar with this matter.

Didi's target for funding has raised to $1.5 billion to compete with Uber in China. Didi operates in 400 cities and is expected to accelerate to about 10 million at the end of the year.

Due to some investors' difficulty in transferring their cash out of mainland China, Zheshang Bank has decided to postpone their $1 billion Hong Kong IPO.

Alibaba plans of expanding and venturing into other business the reason it is seeking $4 billion in loans. It is already in talks with several banks and the request will be finalized by next month.

Indian smart phone market is witnessing robust growth rate and attracting foreign venture capitalists (VCs). The home-grown apps are creating more demand for venture capital. India is second largest market for smartphones after China.

Brazilian steelmaker Usiminas Siderurgicas de Minas Gerais SA, a Brazilian steel producer, is in the process of offloading its manufacturing unit. Usiminas has already hired Credit Suisse SA as its financial advisor for the unit sale. The sluggish global economy and China's economy slowdown are impacting the Brazilian steel industry in more negative way.

The London property market is witnessing soaring buying activity for rental apartments ahead of new tax on home coming into effect from April 2016. The latest rush for buying is also pushing prices up.

The UK house prices rose for the consecutive second month in January 2016. The UK property market demand is growing in the wake of lower interest rates and encouraging job growth rate. The average cost of a house in the UK was up 1.7 percent in January.

The Dutch banking major ING Groep's revenues for the fourth quarter were above the analysts' forecasts. ING's exposure to the oil companies is putting pressure on its stock, which suffered 20 percent drop. However, ING is also receiving indirect benefits from lower oil prices.

Gold soared to three-month high early this week as investors switched over to safe have following the concerns about the global economy. The US Federal Reserve indicated a challenging global economy and this may not prevent it from raising interest rate. Gold price reached to $1,127.80 on 27 January and this propelled investors to book profits.

A bitcoin startup Digital Asset Holdings has received funding from major banks. It will work closely with investors on research and commercialization of bitcoin technology applications. Digital Asset said that it has raised over $50 million funding from 13 investors. The list of investors includes JPMorgan Chase & Com, Citigroup Inc, BNP Paribas SA, CME Group Inc and Accenture Plc.

Feeling the heat of competition in the global payments industry, American Express (AmEx) is in the process of reducing costs by $1billion by end of 2017. AmEx posted losses for the fourth quarter consecutively. The net income dropped from $1.44 billion to $873 million or 80 cents per share for the quarter. The forecast for this year disappointed investors and analysts.

The falling oil price below $30 per barrel is impacting Canadian economy, which mostly depends upon commodities. Along with oil price, Canadian currency Loonie too declined against the US dollar. The weaker Loonie has eroded the purchasing power of Canada and is making imports costlier. Canada imports vegetables from the US. The surging US dollar made vegetables prices expensive by three folds for Canadian consumers.

The debt burden of South African farmers reached to over Rand 125 billion ($7.5 billion). The total debt of farmers was up 14 percent in 2015 to Rand117 billion. Economists alert that the prevailing slump in commodities markets, tighter monetary, fiscal policy, drought conditions and drop in value of Rand will trigger higher than expected inflation rate.