Briefs

Dutch tea and coffee company Jacobs Douwe Egberts (JDE) has made a S$1.45 billion (Bt50.5 billion) all-cash offer for Singapore instant beverage maker Super Group Ltd.
If it succeeds, JDE will delist and privatise Super Group, the company said in a filing with the Singapore Exchange yesterday. 
JDE is offering S$1.30 in cash for each Super Group share, representing a 62.5 per cent premium over the closing price on Oct 4, the last full trading day prior to an SGX query on Super Group's trading activity. Super Group said shareholders representing around 60 per cent of its total share capital have undertaken to tender all of their shares in acceptance of the general offer. Super Group's shareholders include Yeo Hiap Seng Ltd (YHS), which has a 12 per cent stake.
In a separate filing on Thursday, YHS said it would realise a gain of around S$138.4 million from the sale of its Super Group shares.
—The Straits Times

MDEC and GE sign MoU
to grow IIoT sector

Malaysia Digital Economy Corp Sdn Bhd (MDEC) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with US conglomerate General Electric Co (GE) to collaborate on growing Malaysia’s Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) contribution to the country’s economy.
In a statement, MDEC, which is a Malaysian government agency under the Communications and Multimedia Ministry, said GE Digital would be a strategic anchor in the collaboration.
“In this strategic development, MDEC and GE Digital will jointly identify focus areas and embark on initiatives to create an industrial application developer ecosystem for the Industrial Internet.
“This cooperation will see both entities providing the much-needed expertise, manpower as well as information and support to each other on a non-exclusive basis,” MDEC said.—The Star

China to consider 
AirAsia’s route request
 China’s Transport Minister Li Xiaopeng has “responded positively” to the application by AirAsia Bhd for two new Chinese destinations from Kuala Lumpur.
Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai told the press after a bilateral meeting with Li that the Chinese minister said he had directed his aviation officers to act on AirAsia’s request to fly from Kuala Lumpur to Nanjing and Wuxi.
“In my bilateral meeting with China’s new Transport Minister, I raised Malaysia-China co-operation issues on aviation, ports and railways,” he said.
Liow, who is also MCA president, said Li was also looking into requests by Malaysia to give Malaysia Airlines a better time slot for its flights between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing.—The starLaos, China promote production capacity cooperation 
Jilin province of China and Laos have agreed to initiate to promote production capacity cooperation between the Lao PDR and the northeastern province of China. 
A meeting on production capacity cooperation between Laos and Jilin province of China was held yesterday in Vientiane, attended by Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment, Dr Khamlien Pholsena, Deputy Governor of Jilin province, Sui Zhongcheng, officials and businessmen from Laos and Jilin province. 
Speaking at the meeting, Dr Khamlien said Laos has an open policy on cooperation with many countries, especially China in mutual and multiple forms through international and regional stages. 
The government also has a policy in turning itself from a landlocked to a land-linked country and attracting private foreign investment to contribute to national socio-economic development, he added. 
In the investment sector, Chinese investors in Laos now have over 764 projects in areas ranging from mining to agriculture, electricity, handicrafts and tourism with a combined value of more than 7 billion kip, making China the top ranked foreign investor in Laos. 
Some 552 projects had 100 percent Chinese investment, while 212 projects were joint venture investments with local partners. –Vientiane Times