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(Bloomberg) — Cambodia once again dismissed concerns China is secretly building a naval facility in the Southeast Asian nation following a report published Monday the two sides are set to break ground on the military projects this week.

Western officials are concerned the countries are concealing moves to establish a Chinese military presence at the Ream Naval Base on the Gulf of Thailand, according to the Washington Post. This follows reports in 2019 that Beijing signed a secret pact to allow its armed forces to exclusively use parts of the base, a charge that has strained relations with the US. 

While Cambodia’s main government spokesman, Phay Siphan, confirmed that the Asian countries will break ground on two port-related projects at the base this week, he rejected claims that China would have any exclusive access there. The program scheduled for Wednesday pertains to the construction of a vessel repair workshop and a slipway, he said.

“We invited diplomats in Cambodia to attend, so it’s nothing too secret,” Phay Siphan said by phone Tuesday, adding any exclusive military use of the base would violate the nation’s constitution. “Everyone can use it. We’re not looking for trouble.”

He said he had no knowledge of whether the ground station technology for a BeiDou navigation satellite system was located at the base as reported by the Post, which cited a Chinese official.

The situation in Cambodia adds to questions over China’s intentions in the region amid existing concerns it could use a security pact with the Solomon Islands to establish a naval base there, which Beijing denies. Foreign Minister Wang Yi has also recently visited a number of Pacific island nations hoping to secure development deals.

“An exclusive PRC military presence at Ream could threaten Cambodia’s autonomy and undermine regional security,” Chad Roedemeier, the U.S. Embassy spokesperson in Phnom Penh, said. The latest concerns, he said “aligns with the consistent, credible reporting we have seen that the People’s Republic of China is engaged in a significant, ongoing construction project at Ream Naval Base.”

While the Chinese military has denied previous reports regarding Cambodia, the Biden administration in November imposed sanctions against involved companies and individuals, including two senior Cambodian defense officials for corruption related to the base. 

China has described Cambodia as “iron-clad friends” and earlier this year signed a memorandum of understanding with its army, though no details were provided about what it entails.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said during a regular briefing on Tuesday the renovations at the Ream are “aimed at strengthening the Cambodian navy’s ability to safeguard maritime territorial integrity and combat maritime crimes.”

“Our cooperation across the board is open, transparent, reasonable and just,” he said. “This not only benefits our two countries and two peoples, but also sets an example for building a new type of international relations and a community with a shared future for mankind.”

(Updates with comments from Chinese official in final paragraphs)

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(Bloomberg) — The UK’s fintech industry must attract more women to its workforce and create a more inclusive environment in the fight for talent, according to new research that shows the burgeoning sector has less gender diversity than the broader finance industry. 

Male workers currently outnumber females 2-to-1 in the UK fintech industry, trade body Innovate Finance and consulting firm EY said in a report, citing Tech Nation, a network for entrepreneurs. Women made up 44% of the wider finance sector’s overall workforce in 2019, according to Catalyst, a nonprofit advocating for more women-friendly workplaces.

The report also said that fintech firms founded and led by females reported having less access to equity and debt funding than those founded and led by males.

Companies should educate school-age and university female students about fintech careers and be open to flexible working arrangements, according to the report. Firms should also regularly benchmark compensation packages and track the gender pay gap to increase transparency.

“In the next decade, we believe UK fintech can — and must — become a leader in diversity and gender equality,” said Innovate Finance CEO Janine Hirt and EY partner Anita Kimber. 

Read more: Post-Brexit London Races to Keep Its Head-Start in Fintech

The report’s recommendations were based on a survey of about 240 industry workers and discussions with focus groups and executives between July and September 2021. 

It comes as finance continues to struggle with diversity. Firms have spent years trying to boost the number of non-white, non-male staff in senior positions but progress has been slow.

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(Bloomberg) — ByteDance Ltd. is considering selling a minority stake in Poizon, an online marketplace for sneakers, according to people familiar with the matter.

The TikTok owner has engaged in talks about a sale of a low single-digit percentage-point stake, and would prefer to sell to an existing investor, the people said. Poizon, formally known as Shanghai Shizhuang Information Technology Co., is valued at more than $10 billion, they said, asking not to be identified discussing a private matter.

The potential divestment of an interest in the Chinese e-commerce platform is progressing slowly after ByteDance reshuffled its investment arm earlier this year, the people said. 

Deliberations are preliminary and ByteDance could still decide to keep the minority position in Poizon, the people said. Representatives for ByteDance and Poizon didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

The sale comes after the social media giant, anticipating Beijing will soon move to curtail dealmaking by tech companies, dissolved its venture capital team and launched a major overhaul of its strategic investment group, Bloomberg News reported in January.

ByteDance has exited a number of investments and streamlined its businesses over the past year, after the Chinese government kicked off a bruising regulatory crackdown that engulfed every corner of the internet from education to fintech and e-commerce. The company sold its stake in Indian news aggregation operator VerSe Innovation Pvt. earlier this month, according to a report in local media outlet Mint. In February, ByteDance agreed to sell its trading app to a local brokerage, according to a stock exchange announcement.

Poizon, known as “De Wu” in Chinese, launched an app in 2015 offering information on the latest fashion trends and became an online marketplace two years later, according to its website. It offers to authenticate products before they are resold, preventing users from unexpectedly buying counterfeit items. 

Poizon counts Nike Inc., Adidas AG and Nintendo Co. among its brand partners, the website shows. It has about 100 million monthly active users.

Rival startup StockX, a sneaker reseller based in Detroit, said its valuation jumped to $3.8 billion last April with plans to expand globally. It is working with Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. on a potential initial public offering, Bloomberg News has reported. 

Online sneaker marketplace Goat Group announced a $195 million funding round that more than doubled its valuation to $3.7 billion last year. It signed a sponsorship deal in April with French soccer club Paris Saint-Germain valued at over $50 million, a person familiar with the matter has said.

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(Bloomberg) — Ted Baker Plc slumped after the preferred bidder for the UK fashion chain ruled out making an offer.

The fashion retailer gave no reason why the counterparty pulled out but said Tuesday it wasn’t linked to its due-diligence review of Ted Baker. The stock fell as much as 16%.

Sky News reported last week that the preferred bidder was Authentic Brands Group Inc., which it said offered about £300 million ($373 million).

Authentic Brands is the owner of licensing and marketing rights to labels like David Beckham and Juicy Couture and has been a key consolidator in the retail industry. The New York-based company, founded by Jamie Salter, agreed to buy Reebok from Adidas AG last August for $2.5 billion.

Ted Baker said it has received other non-binding proposals and is determining whether to proceed with any of them.

Private equity fund Sycamore Partners Management LLC has already dropped out of the process. 

Ted Baker Chief Executive Officer Rachel Osborne has been seeking to revive the company by cutting debt and product markdowns, boosting online sales and refreshing the brand. The shares have lost more than 90% of their value in the past four years. 

Founder Ray Kelvin departed in 2019 after being accused of inappropriate hugs and other behavior in the workplace, which he denied. The company reported a 35% gain in fiscal fourth-quarter revenue in February. 

 

(Updates with share reaction)

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(Bloomberg) — The US warned North Korea of a strong punishment if it conducts a nuclear test, as Washington and a United Nations’ watchdog agency have said signs indicate Pyongyang could soon set off its first atomic device since 2017.

“There would be a swift and forceful response to such a test,” Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said in Seoul in a Tuesday meeting with her South Korean counterpart.

“Any nuclear tests would be in complete violation of UN Security Council resolutions,” she said, adding it would be destabilizing to the world security. Sherman didn’t elaborate on specific measures, but suggested the US could work with its allies to levy punishments.

There’s almost no chance Russia or China, which have veto power at the UN Security Council, would support any new sanctions against North Korea, as they did in 2017 following a series of weapons tests that prompted then President Donald Trump to warn of “fire and fury.” The two countries in late May vetoed a council resolution drafted by the US to ratchet up sanctions on North Korea for its ballistic missile tests this year.

The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency said it has observed indications North Korea “may be preparing for a nuclear test.” IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said at a meeting Monday of the agency’s Board of Governors such a test “would be a cause for serious concern.”

A test of a nuclear device would be North Korea’s seventh and the fifth under leader Kim Jong Un. His regime last tested a nuclear weapon in September 2017, which was its most powerful atomic bomb by far with an estimated yield of between 120-250 kilotons.

Any display of the weapons in Kim’s nuclear arsenal would serve as a reminder of the pressing security problems posed by Pyongyang that have simmered as US President Joe Biden’s administration has been focused on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Satellite imagery indicated workers have been digging a new passageway at the Punggye-ri site, where North Korea has conducted all of its previous nuclear tests, specialist service NK News and others reported.

About 20 warplanes from the US and South Korea, including F-35A stealth fighters, conducted a combined air power demonstration over waters off the west coast of the peninsula, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said Tuesday.

The “martial protest” showed the allies’ “overwhelming response” against North Korea’s threat, the joint chiefs said in a statement. New South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, a conservative who took office on May 10, has pledged closer security cooperation with Biden and a stepping up of joint military exercises.

US and South Korean forces on Monday fired eight missiles after North Korea launched a similar number the day before. It marked the first time the allies have had a tit-for-tat launch since 2017, according to the Yonhap News Agency.

North Korea’s launch pushed the number of ballistic missiles test-fired this year to an annual record of 31, which includes at least two failures. Pyongyang also appeared to be responding to what it saw as provocations, firing off what was likely the biggest single-day barrage during Kim’s decade in power as the US and South Korea finished joint naval exercises in international waters in the vicinity of Japan’s Okinawa prefecture.

North Korea for years has called joint drills a prelude to an invasion and nuclear war, and threatened retaliation.

(Updates with report of joint flights.)

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(Bloomberg) — The US warned North Korea of a strong punishment if it conducts a nuclear test, as Washington and a United Nations’ watchdog agency have said signs indicate Pyongyang could soon set off its first atomic device since 2017.

“There would be a swift and forceful response to such a test,” Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said in Seoul in a Tuesday meeting with her South Korean counterpart.

“Any nuclear tests would be in complete violation of UN Security Council resolutions,” she said, adding it would be destabilizing to the world security. Sherman didn’t elaborate on specific measures, but suggested the US could work with its allies to levy punishments.

There’s almost no chance Russia or China, which have veto power at the UN Security Council, would support any new sanctions against North Korea, as they did in 2017 following a series of weapons tests that prompted then President Donald Trump to warn of “fire and fury.” The two countries in late May vetoed a council resolution drafted by the US to ratchet up sanctions on North Korea for its ballistic missile tests this year.

The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency said it has observed indications North Korea “may be preparing for a nuclear test.” IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said at a meeting Monday of the agency’s Board of Governors such a test “would be a cause for serious concern.”

A test of a nuclear device would be North Korea’s seventh and the fifth under leader Kim Jong Un. His regime last tested a nuclear weapon in September 2017, which was its most powerful atomic bomb by far with an estimated yield of between 120-250 kilotons.

Any display of the weapons in Kim’s nuclear arsenal would serve as a reminder of the pressing security problems posed by Pyongyang that have simmered as US President Joe Biden’s administration has been focused on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Satellite imagery indicated workers have been digging a new passageway at the Punggye-ri site, where North Korea has conducted all of its previous nuclear tests, specialist service NK News and others reported.

About 20 warplanes from the US and South Korea, including F-35A stealth fighters, conducted a combined air power demonstration over waters off the west coast of the peninsula, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said Tuesday.

The “martial protest” showed the allies’ “overwhelming response” against North Korea’s threat, the joint chiefs said in a statement. New South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, a conservative who took office on May 10, has pledged closer security cooperation with Biden and a stepping up of joint military exercises.

US and South Korean forces on Monday fired eight missiles after North Korea launched a similar number the day before. It marked the first time the allies have had a tit-for-tat launch since 2017, according to the Yonhap News Agency.

North Korea’s launch pushed the number of ballistic missiles test-fired this year to an annual record of 31, which includes at least two failures. Pyongyang also appeared to be responding to what it saw as provocations, firing off what was likely the biggest single-day barrage during Kim’s decade in power as the US and South Korea finished joint naval exercises in international waters in the vicinity of Japan’s Okinawa prefecture.

North Korea for years has called joint drills a prelude to an invasion and nuclear war, and threatened retaliation.

(Updates with report of joint flights.)

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©2022 Bloomberg L.P.

(Bloomberg) — Modalku, a Southeast Asian online lending platform for small businesses, expects its cash inflows to exceed outflows in as early as two to three years.

Some of its divisions are already profitable, fully recovering from the impact of the pandemic, Co-Founder Reynold Wijaya said in an interview at his Jakarta office on Monday, without specifying which units. The company recently expanded to Vietnam, after setting up in Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, and will focus on deepening those markets.

Modalku, also known as Funding Societies, has disbursed over $2 billion of loans by matching small borrowers with investors seeking returns. The company seeks to fill the $300 billion funding gap for micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, or MSMEs, in Southeast Asia. Just in Indonesia, its fastest-growing market, the gap amounts to around 1,500 trillion rupiah ($103 billion).

Harvard Grads Win Sequoia Funding for Asian Lending Startup

With $294 million of fresh funding raised in February, the company acquired a minority stake in PT Bank Index Selindo in April to serve as a “home for its products,” Wijaya said. The group doesn’t plan on becoming a major shareholder in the Indonesian lender. 

Modalku counts Softbank Group and Sequoia Capital among its backers. While going public isn’t a current priority, it remains a future option, Wijaya said.

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(Bloomberg) — Russia “indefinitely” banned 61 US officials and executives, including Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and BlackRock’s Larry Fink, from entering the country to retaliate for what it called “constantly expanding sanctions” against its citizens.

Ukraine is in talks with the United Nations on ways to export grain from ports blocked by Russia’s military, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, but Kyiv remains skeptical toward a tentative deal between Turkey and Moscow to restart shipments.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was prevented from visiting Serbia after that country’s neighbors banned his flight from their airspace. President Vladimir Putin threatened to strike new targets in Ukraine if longer-range missiles are delivered, shortly after the UK joined the US in pledging to send the weapons to Kyiv.

(See RSAN on the Bloomberg Terminal for the Russian Sanctions Dashboard.)

Key Developments 

(All times in CET)

• Russia’s Default Tussle With Bondholders Is Only Just Starting
• The Internet Pioneer Brought Low as Kremlin Ally by EU Sanctions
• Raw Material Gauge Soars to Fresh Record Amid Supply Crunch
• US Moves to Seize Two Abramovich Jets Over Russia Sanctions 
• Ukraine’s Tactics Show Smaller Countries How to Fight Back
• Putin Critic Kallas Needs New Allies to Stay in Power in Estonia

Russia May Classify International Reserves Data (6:45 a.m.)

The Russian Economy Ministry drafted anti-sanction amendments to legislation on financial markets, RBC reported, citing a copy of bill, which it said was approved by a governmental commission on Monday.

The amendments allow for classifying data on Russia’s gold and foreign currency reserves. In April, central bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina said sanctions cut off access to half of Russian reserves. 

Other proposals in the measure would include the cancellation of a cross-default provision on eurobonds and allowing companies to issue “substitute” bonds to repay eurobonds, it said.

Ukraine May Need $8 Billion in Gas Imports (11:15 p.m.)

Ukraine will need to import as much as $8 billion-worth of natural gas for the next heating season, Naftogaz CEO Yuriy Vitrenko said on Bloomberg TV.

Ukraine is in talks with the US on financing for purchases of liquefied natural gas, which could replace the pipeline gas that the country has been buying from the European market, Vitrenko said. 

Serbia Will Keep Opposing Russia Sanctions, Vucic Says (9:09 p.m.)

Serbia still “refuses to be part of the pack” that imposed sanctions against Russia, President Aleksandar Vucic said. He deplored the ban by some of its neighbors on Foreign Minister Lavrov’s flight to Belgrade as blocking Serbia’s leadership from even talking to the Russian official.

The embargo on Russian oil would cost the Balkan country an estimated $600 million a year because it will have to pay instead for Iraqi crude that costs some $30 more per barrel, Vucic said in live interview on state broadcaster RTS. 

Russia Bans Entry to 61 Americans, Including Yellen and Fink (8:17 p.m.)

Russia slapped back at the sanctions with the ban on American individuals that also includes several White House advisers and Universal Pictures President Peter Cramer, according to a statement from its Foreign Ministry.

The ministry said the “indefinite ban” targets leaders of the US defense industry, media platforms and rating agencies, air- and ship-building companies and several State Department officials cited for spreading allegedly fake news about Russian cyberattacks.

US Goes After Billionaire Abramovich’s Planes (6:35 p.m.)

The US obtained a warrant to seize two jets owned or controlled by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.

US Magistrate Judge Sara Cave signed a warrant of seizure for a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner and a Gulfstream G650ER, according to documents released by the office of Manhattan US Attorney Damian Williams.

The Boeing has remained in Dubai since March, while the Gulfstream has been in Moscow since then, according to an FBI affidavit.

Zelenskiy Cites Intel Saying Russia Wants to Occupy Zaporizhzhia (5:46 p.m)

Zelenskiy said that “the most dangerous situation” of the war at present is in Zaporizhzhia, a region west of Donetsk partly occupied by Russian forces.

“We understand, and we see from intercepted calls, that the enemy wants to occupy Zaporizhzhia,” Zelenskiy told journalists at a news conference in Kyiv. Ukrainian forces are still fighting in Sievierodonetsk, although they are outnumbered by Russian personnel and heavy weapons, he said.

Russia’s Crude Oil Revenues Take a Hit Even as Exports Swell (5:43 p.m.)

Russia is earning less from its oil exports, even as seaborne crude shipments surge to a six-week high, because of the big discounts that Moscow is having to offer Asian buyers to snap up barrels shunned by Europe. 

While shipped volumes increased in the week to June 3, Russia’s revenue from export duty fell 5% to $162 million, reflecting a lower per-barrel rate on the shipments.

Ukraine in Talks With UN to Export Grain, President Says (4:47 p.m.)

Ukraine is in talks with the United Nations on ways to arrange grain exports, Zelenskiy said, adding that he has discussed the situation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

As much as 25 million tons of grain is blocked from export in Ukraine’s ports, and that may rise to 75 million tons by autumn, Zelenskiy said. Ukraine rejected an offer to use Belarus’s rail links, he said, adding that Kyiv wasn’t invited to talks between Russia and Turkey.

While Ukraine wants guarantees from “countries which we can trust and which will have accords with Russia,” the best guarantee for safe exports will be weapons Ukraine can use to strike Russian ships if they attack Ukrainian ports, Zelenskiy said.

Latvia Bans 80 Russian TV Channels Until War Ends (2:01 p.m.)

Latvia banned the remaining 80 Russian-registered TV channels operating there from broadcasting until Russia ends its war and returns Crimea to Kyiv’s control, the Leta news service reported, citing Ivars Abolins, the chairman of the National Electronic Mass Media Council.

The Baltic country, which neighbors Russia and has a large Russian-speaking minority, is one of Europe’s harshest critics of the war in Ukraine. Abolins said Monday that Latvia had given a broadcasting license to TV Rain, an independent Russian TV channel that was banned by Moscow in March.

Read more: Putin’s Crackdown Pushes Independent Russian Media Into Crypto

Serbian Leader Decries Derailing of Lavrov Visit (1:42 p.m.)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who was supposed to host Lavrov this week in Belgrade, said he was displeased how neighboring countries prevented the visit by banning Lavrov’s flight from their airspace.

Still, Lavrov will soon meet his Serbian counterpart, Nikola Selakovic, at an undisclosed location and time, Vucic said. In Moscow, Lavrov called the move by Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Montenegro to block him from their airspace “unprecedented.”

Lavrov is a great and proven friend” of Serbia, Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin said in separate comments in Belgrade. “Serbia is proud of not being part of the anti-Russia hysteria,” Vulin said.

Russian Car Sales at Record Low as Sanctions Sting (12:39 p.m.)

Russian car sales plunged 84% in May, as sanctions and international isolation brought an industry that had once been a showcase for foreign investment to a near standstill.

Fewer than 25,000 vehicles were sold last month, according to the Association of European Businesses, the lowest since at least 2006 and less than a 10th of the monthly levels seen in peak months in the past.

Read more: Russian Car Sales Collapse as Isolation Hits Once-Hot Industry

India in Talks to Increase Oil Imports From Rosneft (12:21 p.m.)

India is looking to boost Russian oil imports, with state-owned refiners eager to take more heavily discounted supplies from Rosneft after Europe enacted a partial ban.

State processors are collectively working on securing new six-month supply contracts for Russian crude to India, according to people with knowledge of the companies’ procurement plans. They are in talks with Rosneft, Russia’s state-owned oil champion, with the seller set to handle shipping and insurance matters, they said.

Read more: India in Talks to Increase Russian Oil Imports From Rosneft

Ukraine Skeptical of Turkey-Russia Deal to Ship Grain (11:31 a.m.)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government has offered military help to clear mines off the coast of Odesa and escort grain ships but Ukraine has yet to endorse the plan, worried that removing defenses could leave the vital port open to Russian attack, people familiar with the deal said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss matters that aren’t yet public.

Russia’s Lavrov is expected to hold talks in Ankara on the plan Wednesday. It remains unclear whether Ukraine will send a representative. “By commenting in advance on reaching the deal, Russia is seeking to shift responsibility to Ukraine” for disrupting supplies, Ukraine’s Deputy Economy Minister Taras Kachka said. 

The Kremlin’s invasion has cut off shipments of grain and other farm products from Ukraine, threatening millions of people in its traditional markets with food shortages. Moscow has denied responsibility for the disruption but demanded relief from US and European sanctions limiting its exports of fertilizer and agricultural products.

Read more: Ukraine Cautious as Turkey, Russia Push Black Sea Grain Deal

Ukraine Says Russian General Killed (8:31 a.m.)

Russian Major General Roman Kutuzov was killed, Ukraine’s army said on its Facebook page. Earlier, Meduza reported Kutuzov died in fighting in the Luhansk region, citing a journalist for Russian state-run television station. Russia’s Defense Ministry hasn’t commented.

UK to Send Rocket Systems (12:01 a.m.)

The UK is to send multiple-launch rocket systems to Ukraine, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said. The move has been coordinated closely with the US decision to send the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System variant of MLRS to Ukraine, where forces have requested longer-range precision weapons.

The M270 weapons system, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, can strike targets up to 80 kilometers (50 miles) away with high accuracy, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Defence. The UK will also supply M31A1 munitions “at scale.”

 

(A previous version corrected the name of a US official.)

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(Bloomberg) — G7 Connect Inc., a fleet management company backed by Tencent Holdings Ltd., has agreed to merge with its smaller competitor E6, which counts a unit of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. as an investor, bringing the two Chinese platform giants together as shareholders in the combined firm.

Both G7 and E6 will retain their own brands and independent operations while they seek synergies in areas where they overlap, according to a press release seen by Bloomberg News.

The merger comes as G7 considers a potential initial public offering in Hong Kong that could happen as early as this year, Bloomberg News reported in April. The company is working with advisers including China International Capital Corp., Citigroup Inc. and Morgan Stanley on the proposed first-time share sale. 

“We decided to finish the merger before the IPO, because we have faith we can really change this industry,” said Jielong Zhang, chief financial officer of G7, in an interview. “We are ready to launch any time once the market condition improves,” Zhang said. 

The merged company will formally take on G7’s name, and its combined investors, GLP Pte, Tencent and the Alibaba-backed Cainiao Smart Logistics Network Ltd. will each have roughly a 7% to 10% interest in the firm, Zhang said, with any discrepancy between the sizes of Tencent and Cainiao’s stakes within just half a percentage point. GLP, Tencent, Cainiao and others will each appoint representatives to the company’s board, the release showed.

Tencent and Alibaba have largely built rigidly separate ecosystems, with few exceptions. Video platform Bilibili Inc. is backed by both giants.

G7 had a valuation of $2.2 billion prior to the merger, while E6’s Internet of Things-related revenue is roughly 70% that of G7’s, according to Zhang. A valuation for the combined company was not disclosed.

Both G7 and E6 use artificial intelligence and IoT technology to manage freight and logistics services, with sensors and cameras capturing data to optimize efficiency. They use advanced driver-assistance systems to detect and warn about bad driving or insufficient space between vehicles, and weigh cargo loads in real time to prevent theft.

E6 serves more than 40,000 logistics companies in sectors such as cold chain storage and transportation, according to an internal document seen by Bloomberg News. It was founded in 2006 in Shenzhen, and connects more than 2 million trucks and 2.3 million drivers.

Started in 2010, G7 takes its name from the G7 Beijing–Urumqi Expressway, the world’s longest desert highway. In February, it raised $200 million in a funding round led by Trustbridge Partners and CS Capital, according to a press release at the time. 

In recent years, G7 has ventured into transaction services in areas such as settlement, insurance and equipment, which now account for more than 70% of the firm’s revenue, Zhang said.

(Updates with board seats in the fifth paragraph. A previous version of this story corrected E6’s revenue type in the seventh paragraph.)

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(Bloomberg) — Nobuyuki Idei, former chief executive officer of Sony Group Corp., has died of liver failure. He was 84.

Idei, who joined the company in 1960 and served as CEO from 1998 to 2005, passed away June 2 in Tokyo, the company said in a statement.

“Idei was surely a visionary leader who was able to make management decisions looking 20 to 30 years into the future,” said Atsushi Osanai, a professor at Waseda Business School, who once worked in Sony’s television business.

The former CEO represented a generation of executives who spent the start of their careers under the direct tutelage of Sony founder Akio Morita. Charged with finding new ways for the company to grow abroad, Idei cultivated an aura of sophistication and could be seen hobnobbing with Hollywood executives sporting a white blazer. He used to tell reporters that his generation could hold its own overseas, without any inferiority complex, thanks to the efforts of his predecessors.

Read more: Life After Sony Leads Idei to Back $82,000 Handmade Cars

Idei held leadership roles in Sony’s audio, home video and creative communication divisions, according to the statement. During his stint as CEO, Sony advanced its PlayStation gaming business and introduced the second generation of the console that has since become the company’s most important product line.

He led Sony’s transition to becoming an IT company, tying its electronics products with the internet just as it was becoming a global phenomenon. His achievements at Sony include the start of the VAIO personal computer brand, a joint venture with Ericsson on mobile phones and the So-net internet provider business, where current CEO Kenichiro Yoshida learned how to run a company.

“The experiences and learning I gained there were a turning point in my career and life, and in many ways connect directly to my management of Sony today,” Yoshida said in the statement. “During his seven years as CEO from 1998, Mr. Idei made an immense contribution to Sony’s evolution as a global company.”

But Idei’s years at Sony were not all rosy, especially the later period when Apple Inc. took over as the leading consumer electronics pioneer with the release of the iPod and iTunes. Sony was forced to trim losses and halt its more experimental robotics businesses developing products like the AIBO robot dog and Qrio humanoid. Idei faced further criticism for his choice of successor, Sir Howard Stringer, whose tenure deepened Sony’s troubles. 

After leaving Sony, Idei started his own consultancy, Quantum Leaps Corp., focusing on finding and financing promising corporations and tech projects. He was also a member of the General Motors Co. and Baidu Inc. boards.

(Updates with more detail about Idei’s career; a previous version corrected the date of the announcement)

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