VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Two Singapore oilfield service firms are finding it tough to refinance debt maturing later this year as the slump in crude prices has made investors and lenders hesitant, banking sources said.

Ezra Holdings Ltd (EZRA.SI), a Singapore-listed oilfield service company, said on Wednesday it has put on hold a plan to list its subsea services unit in the United States, prompted by unfavourable market conditions.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised on Sunday to pursue predictable policies and ensure stable taxes, in a speech that sought to address concerns for foreign investors in Asia's third-largest economy.

China's growth engine looks to have ended last year on a flat note as its massive factory sector sputtered in December, though ebbing price pressures also offered scope for more policy stimulus from Beijing and across much of Asia.

When Xi Jinping wanted to deliver a political message to Hong Kong as protesters demanding free elections were threatening to take to the streets, he summoned the tycoons who dominate the city’s economy.

Shares in AirAsia fell 7.8 percent on Monday, their biggest one-day drop in more than three years after one of its aircraft went missing on its way to Singapore from the Indonesian city of Surabaya.

A missing AirAsia jet carrying 162 people could be at the bottom of the sea after it was presumed to have crashed off the Indonesian coast, an official said on Monday, as countries around Asia sent ships and planes to help in the search effort.

China's Xiaomi [XTC.UL] is raising over $1 billion from investors including Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC that would value the smartphone maker at over $45 billion, a person familiar with the deal said.

Olam International Ltd (OLAM.SI) will buy Archer Daniels Midland Co's (ADM.N) cocoa business for $1.3 billion, it said on Monday, catapulting the Singapore-based commodities merchant into the top tier of the niche bean processing industry.

Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings has agreed to buy a minority stake in Virtu Financial Inc, the New York-based electronic dealing firm said on Monday, in a bet on the growth of automated trading globally.

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.

Singapore said on Friday it plans to regulate fast-growing third-party taxi booking services like Uber and GrabTaxi for the first time, capping fees and requiring them to dispatch only licensed cabs and drivers.

Asian stocks sagged on Tuesday amid profit taking in Hong Kong and Chinese markets, while Tokyo shares rebounded on expectations that Japan will opt for a snap election that may lead to fresh stimulus measures.

Singapore's second-largest taxi operator Trans-cab said on Monday it was scrapping its planned initial public offering (IPO) three days before its shares were due to start trading.

Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte Ltd [GIC.UL] is making its first investment in New Zealand real estate by forming a joint venture with Goodman Property Trust (GMT.NZ), the pair said in a statement on Monday.