Business News Roundup, March 29
Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings has acquired a 5 percent stake in electric car maker Tesla.
Tencent spent $1.8 billion acquiring 8.2 million shares during Tesla’s stock offering this month, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk remains its biggest shareholder, with a 21 percent stake.
Square is introducing mobile payment services in Britain, marking its biggest global expansion in a push to boost growth.
Though Square has already planted a flag in Canada, Japan and Australia, the United Kingdom represents its best opportunity to sign on new merchants and increase sales volume.
The world’s fifth-largest economy has a high concentration of small and medium-size businesses that are Square’s target customers.
Investors have raised concerns about Square’s long-term growth prospects.
Didi Chuxing, a company in China that last year bested Uber in that huge ride-hailing market, is in negotiations to get SoftBank of Japan to take part in a multibillion-dollar investment round, according to people familiar with the talks.
Son has been raising $100 billion for what he calls the SoftBank Vision Fund, and has pledged to invest $50 billion and create 50,000 jobs in the United States.
While it is unclear whether that fund is involved in the talks over Didi Chuxing, analysts say it could be used to make sizable investments in global tech companies.
The company says it wants to let your camera “do the talking” as more people are posting photos and videos instead of blocks of text.
A Tuesday update of the app allows users to tap a camera icon that opens up the phone’s camera to do a photo or video post.
Years ago, Facebook tried to buy the company but was rebuffed.
[...] it has been trying, with varying degrees of success, to clone Snapchat’s most popular features.
In a move that drew praise from President Trump, Ford said Tuesday that it would invest $1.2 billion in three Michigan plants as part of a larger effort to increase production of U.S.-made trucks and sport utility vehicles.
Ford said the investments would support a manufacturing shift from small cars to pickups and SUVs at one assembly plant, and add or preserve 130 jobs at an engine factory.
The company informed the White House of the move Tuesday, prompting an immediate reaction from Trump, who tweeted: Major investment to be made in three Michigan plants.
Trump met with auto executives two weeks ago in the Detroit area, when the president vowed to cut back environmental rules and other regulations to promote job growth.
Amazon.com’s latest experiment is a clear indication of where it’s seeking a big chunk of its future bread and butter: the world of grocery retail.
Groceries are a $600 billion market in the United States, and analysts with Cowen & Co. called the sector Amazon’s “biggest potential source” of increased revenue.