Technology Roundup – Chinese funds targeting Ant IPO draw $9B, Microsoft is making work from home a permanent option

科技精选——针对蚂蚁金服上市的中国基金筹资$90亿, 微软将永久允许员工在家办公
Published on: October 9, 2020
Author: Amy Liu

Chinese funds targeting Ant IPO draw $9B from millions of retail investors

Five new Chinese funds targeting the giant upcoming IPO of Ant Group (NYSE:BABA) sold out in days and have cumulatively raised 60B yuan – about $8.93B – from more than 10M retail investors.

An average of eight investors per second placed orders during the subscription period, Reuters notes, pointing to the frenzy for the listing even as the U.S. looks into restricting Ant Group’s payment systems.

The five funds launched Sept. 25 to raise 12B yuan each and invest up to 10% of assets to buy Ant IPO shares. Two of the funds hit their fund-raising target even before a weeklong Chinese National Day holiday that began Oct. 1. Friday’s resumption of business saw Alipay (Ant’s online payment platform) announcing the other three funds were sold out.

Ant is looking to raise about $35B in a dual listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai – what could become the world’s largest IPO and value the company at more than $250B.

The fund rush is a coup for Alipay, which acts as the sole third-party distributor of the five mutual funds, a model that looks to disrupt traditional fund sales.

Microsoft is making work from home a permanent option

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) will allow many staff to work from home permanently, according to new internal guidance.

The news comes after Microsoft previously announced it would not reopen U.S. offices until 2021 at the earliest.

Roles that require physical presence, such as access to hardware labs, data centers, and in-person training, will remain office-based.

Employees will also be allowed to relocate domestically with approval. International relocation, if viable for the role, is also an option.

Relocation costs are covered by the employee, while home-office costs are covered by Microsoft.

Flexible working hours will not require approval from a manager.

Chinese e-learning company iHuman gains after soft NYSE debut

IHuman (IH) opens its first day of trading at $12.12, a meager 1% above the IPO price of $12. Shares are now up 7.6% to $13.24.

The listing included 7M ADSs, meaning iHuman raised $84M in the offering.

IHuman plans to use about 35% of its proceeds to fuel expansion within China and overseas.

Previously: iHuman fixates 7M ADSs price at $12 (Oct. 09 2020)

Check out the latest IPO news.

Deeper dive from SA contributor Duncan Jones: IPO Update: iHuman Closes In On $84 Million U.S. IPO

Telefónica UK chooses Nokia SDM software for cloud transition

Telefónica UK (TEF -0.9%) has chosen Nokia’s (NOK +2.2%) Subscriber Data Management software to support its existing networks, as well as a transition to cloud arcbitecture and 5G.

Nokia SDM will securely oversee pivotal functionality for all Telefónica UK networks and services, the companies say.

That includes the 3G, 4G and 5G networks, as well as IP Multimedia Subsystem, Voice over LTE, Voice over WiFi and Voice over 5G services, along with IoT devices and nationwide Smart Metering.

Deployment is expected in the fourth quarter.

Nvidia gains bear at New Street, expecting stock correction

Expecting Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) to report “two more stellar quarters” before disappointment strikes, New Street downgrades the company from Neutral to Sell with a $400 price target.

Analyst Pierre Ferragu calls Nvidia the “undisputed leader” in 3D graphics and data-parallel acceleration but expects those businesses to peak within the next six months.

After one more “strong quarter and guide,” Ferragu says the “likely overheated expectations will lead to disappointment and a correction in the stock.”

NVDA shares are down 0.4% pre-market to $551.50.

Technology