VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Malaysia's proposed $20 billion merger to create the world's biggest Islamic bank is likely to be scrapped after CIMB Holdings and RHB Capital failed to agree on new deal terms, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Plunging oil prices have sparked a big rally in Asian government bond markets as lower fuel costs cut inflation expectations, but the rally could be built on shallow foundations as monetary policymakers remain out of step with tumbling bond yields.

Air bag maker Takata Corp (7312.T) has sufficient funds to deal with a global recall that has climbed to about 21 million vehicles after five deaths linked to its products, the company executive told the Nikkei newspaper.

The Philippines aims to buy two frigates, two helicopters and three gunboats for deployment in the South China Sea where a territorial dispute with China has lent urgency to the need to bolster forces, a Philippine navy officer said on Wednesday.

Japanese telecoms firm SoftBank Corp has pumped in $250 million to become the top investor in Southeast Asian mobile taxi-booking application GrabTaxi Holdings Pte Ltd, its biggest investment in a Southeast Asian Internet firm.

Toyota Motor Corp said on Thursday it would recall 57,000 vehicles globally to replace potentially deadly air bags made by Takata Corp, as a safety crisis around the Japanese auto parts maker looks far from being contained.

China's national civil aviation authority says the country will need to train about half a million civilian pilots by 2035, up from just a few thousand now, as wannabe flyers chase dreams of landing lucrative jobs at new air service operators.

Statoil (STL.OL) exited Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz gas project on Monday, selling a 15.5-percent stake to Malaysia's Petronas [PETRA.UL] for $2.25 billion as part of asset sales to shore up returns to shareholders.

CME Group delayed the start of trade on its electronic platform by four hours on Monday due to technical problems, the latest glitch to hit the world's largest futures market operator.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia-based outsourcing startup Supahands wants to help Southeast Asian clients save time and gain focus for more important tasks by providing them with multi-lingual and home-based virtual assistants who can do various tasks for them.

Singapore City, Singapore-based same-day hotel booking app In2Nite raised $2.8M in a venture round led by IDG Ventures and other undisclosed investors to expand its reach across the Asian market.

The territorial dispute between China and Japan has caused the latter to pull out its investments from the country and redirecting its focus to other South East Asian countries where it has already funded companies with USD22.8 billion last year.

Mountain View, US-based business-oriented social networking service LinkedIn already reached the 300-million mark in registered users worldwide, with half of that number coming from countries outside of its home country.

Online video platform Viddsee launched its new site Viddsee BUZZ to promote independent films from Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, and the Philippines on social media and help them go viral.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia-based taxi app GrabTaxi closed its Series A round with more than $1 million from Singaporean state-owned investment firm Vertex Ventures to conquer Southeast Asia.