Multinational chemical firm BASF will sell its subsidiary BASF Construction Chemicals to an affiliate of global private equity fund Lone Star for euro 3.17 billion on a cash and debt-free basis.

The deal will be completed by Q3 of 2020, subject to approval from relevant authorities.

Member of Board of Executive Directors BASF SE Saori Dubourg said,

Under the umbrella of Lone Star, the Construction Chemicals team can focus on a growth path with an industry-specific approach.

The BASF Construction Chemicals business operates production sites and sales offices in 60 countries and employs over 7000 people. It generated sales of euro 2.5bn in 2018.

Lone Star President of Europe Donald Quintin said that the BASF Construction Chemical business fit into their overall strategy and would complement their other investments in the construction materials sector.

Praising the quality manpower at BASF, Quintin said,

We highly value the industry-wide recognized knowledge and competence of BASF’s Construction Chemicals experts, backed by a strong track record in innovative products and a compelling R&D pipeline. We look forward to jointly pursuing a growth-oriented business approach.

In India, the BASF Construction Chemicals business is merged with the surface technologies sector. It generated sales of INR 484 crore in 2018–2019.

The sanctions in the United States have made Chinese telecom giant Huawei look at South Korea for its rising demand for telecom and smartphone equipment. The company has also vowed to raise its investments in South Korea, according to the head of global media and communications at the company Karl Song Kai.

Huawei is the world’s second-biggest smartphone manufacturer and number 1 when it comes to telecom equipment. However, US sanctions have disrupted its operations considerably. The company announced that it is going to bump up its purchases from South Korea to $11.1 billion this year from $10.6 billion in 2018.

Karl Song Kai stated,

As (the) U.S. (is) getting close-minded, I believe this is an opportunity for other countries such as South Korea. In 2020, we’ll buy more Korean-made products and invest more in South Korea.

While Huawei has been banned from the United States, additional sanctions barred American companies from selling chips and other materials.

Hence, Huawei has found it increasingly more logical to source those products from South Korea. Other than South Korea, vendors from many other nations have also been roped in by the company. The head of the company’s operations in South Korea, Shawn Meng, stated that the country is one of the most important markets for Huawei.

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency, Pentagon, has taken note of the advances made by Russia and China in hypersonic missiles technology. Accordingly, it is developing a space sensor system to intercept hypersonic missiles in the air.

The US aims to develop space sensor technology for tracking incoming hypersonic missiles. This technology is called Hypersonic Ballistic Missile Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS).

The US Missile Agency is currently testing Phase IIa of HBTSS.

According to Missile Defence Agency spokeswoman Maria Njoku, the HBTSS will be integrated with the National Space Defence Architecture, which deploys different systems in different orbits to detect and track conventional ballistic missiles as well as other threats like ICBMs.

Explaining how HBTSS will work, Njoku said,

HBTSS will be a network of sensors on a constellation of satellites in orbit around the Earth with the ability to observe global threats without the line of site limitations of ground-based radars.

The Missile Defence Agency has also awarded Phase II development projects for HBTSS to L3Harris, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, and Leidos.

The main difference in intercepting ballistic missiles and ICBMs compared to hypersonic missiles is the response time. ICBMs allow a response time of 20 minutes, which allows firing of 1 or 2 interceptors.

Hypersonic missiles travel at five times the speed of sound and can be maneuvered in flight to travel close to the earth to escape radar detection. Added to this is the fact that they can be fired from mobile launchers or warships.

Hypersonic missiles are of two types, the Hypersonic Glide Missiles (HGV) and the Hypersonic Cruise Missiles (HCM). HGVs are carried by rockets and released 40-50 km above the earth. HCMs have engines mounted on them and are released 20-30 km above the ground.

The radars deployed today do not have the range to detect incoming hypersonic missiles in time to launch interceptors to destroy them. The radar systems require airborne sensor node to extend their range. By the time you detect an incoming missile, it is already too late. Detection is required at the launch itself.

HBTSS is being designed to detect and continuously track hypersonic threats with a single sensor payload. It will give time to military commanders on the ground to take countermeasures to destroy the missiles in the air.

Amazon has termed the claims made by consulting firm ShipMatrix “inaccurate.” ShipMatrix claims that Amazon’s on-time delivery rates had fallen to 93.7% in the week ending December 7 compared to 98.2% during the previous week, which also included Thanksgiving.

Amazon spokeswoman Rena Lunak admitted that some deliveries were delayed due to bad weather but asserted that the company had regained control of the situation.

The on-time delivery rate for Amazon van drivers is important because they account for the major chunk of deliveries of Amazon products.

Amazon charges its Prime users $119 per year with free delivery within 1 or 2 days. It said in April that it would spend $800M to cut delivery times from 2 days to 1 for them. Its network of van drivers is expected to deliver 275M packages this year between Thanksgiving and Christmas, which is double that in 2018. Analysts have warned that Amazon’s delivery times leave very little room for error and failure to meet the deadlines.

ShipMatrix President Satish Jindel has pointed out that other carriers like UPS, FedEx transfer Amazon products by air over long distances, but still, their on-time delivery rates are similar to that of Amazon van drivers. Thus, just bad weather cannot be alone held responsible for the drop in on-time delivery rates. Satish said that as Amazon is a retailer, supplier and delivery firm the company might be facing problems in fulfilling the rush of orders in the festive season. In other words, it may be blaming the weather for covering up its failures in fulfilling orders on time.

Amazon began its involvement in the delivery of goods after a massive upswing in orders in 2013 which had caused a breakdown in its supply chain. This resulted in delayed delivery of products and upset the customers. Amazon’s logistics unit has many warehouses, almost 50 planes on lease and 30,000 delivery vans.

Leading comparison platform SingSaver has announced that it has secured a brokerage license from Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) here on Thursday. Now, after this move it will be able to offer more than 100 insurance policies from 12 providers at its platform.

SingSaver will now provide instant digital comparisons of insurance products in various categories that may include travel, home, and maid. The new broking team of the company will now be able to offer their advice to consumers on insurance.

SingSaver’s new license as an insurance broker is nothing less than a landmark achievement as it will now spread its wings beyond credit cards and personal loans.

Meanwhile, SingSaver.com.sg has been assisting Singaporeans in discovering the correct credit cards, personal loans, along with various other financial products with convenient comparison tools.  It strives to offer the most updated correct data and personal finance guides.

Earlier this year in August, SingSaver’s parent group CompareAsiaGroup secured US$20 million in Series B1 investment. CompareAsiaGroup has the backing of IFC World Bank, Alibaba, Experian, and Goldman Sachs.

Payoneer, one of the leading cross-border payment services providers headquartered in New York, has acquired Optile, an open platform of payment orchestration based in Germany’s Munich. The move was announced yesterday on December 10, 2019, through a press release. However, the terms of the acquisition have not been revealed.

Payoneer also took to the micro-blogging site Twitter to announce its latest acquisition to update the larger community about the new development.

Payoneer acquires open #payment orchestration platform, optile, and enters the world of merchant services! https://t.co/pNtZed3xWm #optile #payoneer pic.twitter.com/NdhKGdXyQM

— Payoneer (@Payoneer) December 10, 2019

Talking about their recent acquisition, Payoneer’s CEO, Scott Galit, expressed their excitement on welcoming the team of Optile into the Payoneer family. Continuing further, Galit stated that the enterprise-level technology and partner-friendly approach of Optile is a substantial addition to Payoneer’s global platform.

Galit also pointed out the shared belief by both the companies in this rapidly-changing world, where businesses seek an open platform that allows them to associate with providers who could meet their increasing demands.

On the other hand, Optile’s Founder and CEO, Daniel Smeds, also shared how thrilled they were on joining hands with a global platform like Payoneer. In a statement, Smeds said that the move would provide them with the opportunity of leveraging Payoneer’s global team and infrastructure for continually developing the prominent open payment orchestration platform of the world.

Talking about Payoneer, Smeds added that Payoneer shares Optile’s obsession with consumer experience and fulfilling their requirements today while making them ready for tomorrow. He also added that Payoneer is equally dedicated to bringing flexibility, scale, and simplicity to digital businesses of today.

As per the press release, Optile’s team of 75 people will continue operating as a distinct group within Payoneer. They will continue to work towards advancing Optile’s platform of payment orchestration with the merchant autonomy as its central offering.

The reports also noted that Payoneer’s decision to acquire Optile is in line with its own desire to build a foundation that culminates in global growth for marketplaces, SMBs (small and midsize businesses), and business ventures. The company hopes to reduce the plight and balance options in the undefined environment of today’s time.

About Optile

Optile was established in 2010. It streamlines the tedious process of payment acceptance for merchants and sellers all over the world. The sellers can steer their own businesses on Optile’s open network of payment, where they can add payment options, as well as partners, as required.

About Payoneer

Payoneer is a financial services firm making digital payment services and online money transfer a hassle-free process for global consumers. With its services, it empowers businesses across the world to grow at a global level.

Cat Rock Capital Management LP, which is based on Greenwich, Connecticut, released a presentation on the merger between Just Eat and Takeaway.com. It should be noted that Cat Rock owns 17.7 million shares in Just Eat, which represents 3% of the company’s outstanding shares.

The presentation was about the offer made by Takeaway.com for Just Eat. The presentation in question is public, and anyone interested in the same can visit the website JustEatMustDeliver.com for the same. Alternatively, an interested party can also request a copy of the presentation from info@catrockcap.com.

Cat Rock Capital Management LP’s Founder and Managing Partner, Alex Captain, stated,

We have been Just Eat shareholders for over two and a half years, and we are deeply committed to helping Just Eat realize its great potential. Today we are releasing a public presentation outlining our research on the proposed merger between Just Eat and Takeaway.com.

The world’s leading open-source blockchain satellite network, SpaceChain, has released its third cryptocurrency wallet node into space. SpaceChain aims to build a blockchain-based network in space. It is a significant and ambitious project compared to other projects.

SpaceChain wants to develop a cryptocurrency wallet in space with the aim of no physical attack or control over it. It is the safest digital currency wallet in existence. The company has already launched its two rockets in China, which has holding parts of the wallet and network. Now, it is launching the third one from outside of the United States in Florida.

During the rocket launch, the CEO of SpaceChain, Zee Zheng, said that the company had put all its resources into this project. He declared that there is a much difference between the third one and the other two rockets that they have already launched. He forced his team to build a unique design to fulfill their needs and requirements.

NASA will get involved in this project after some time. The space program asked SpaceChain to ensure that their hardware must be fit and attached to the International Space Station (ISS). It will take a long time to release the idea of SpaceChain for use.