JD.com says plans to invest in Thailand by end of year

HONG KONG (Reuters) - JD.com Inc, China's second-largest e-commerce company, plans to invest in Thailand by the end of this year, expanding its footprint beyond Indonesia which currently accounts for almost all of its overseas business.

TF1, ProSieben, Mediaset launch trading platform for video ads

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - European broadcasters TF1, ProSiebenSat.1 and Mediaset plan to set up a joint trading platform for digital video advertising to appeal to media agencies planning continent-wide campaigns.

India's Infosys denies promoters selling stake in company

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Infosys Ltd on Friday denied a media report that the founders of India's second-biggest software services exporter were looking to sell their entire 12.75 percent stake in the company.

SoftBank unit buys robotics businesses from Alphabet Inc

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's SoftBank Group Corp said on Friday that a unit of the company will buy two firms that build walking robots from Alphabet Inc , which would add to the group's growing artificial intelligence portfolio.

DST Global's Milner sees $4 trillion of new internet companies on online spending boom

HONG KONG (Reuters) - A surge in online consumer spending in the coming years is seen creating $4 trillion worth of new internet companies, billionaire investor Yuri Milner, founder of venture capital giant DST Global, said on Friday.

Bain replacing KKR in Japan government-backed bid for Toshiba chip unit: sources

SAN FRANCISCO/TOKYO (Reuters) - Private equity firm Bain Capital is replacing rival KKR & Co LP in a Japanese government-led consortium that also includes Western Digital Corp to bid for Toshiba Corp's chip unit, sources familiar with the matter said.

Japan’s Universal accuses founder Okada of improper loan

(Reuters) - Universal Entertainment Corp, a Japanese maker of slot machines, said on Thursday it was investigating what it suspects was an improper transfer of funds by Kazuo Okada, its founder and chairman, to a company he controls.

Fintech AvidXchange raises $300 million from Caisse, Mastercard: statement

(Reuters) - AvidXchange, a software company that helps mid-sized companies automate their invoicing and bill payments, said on Thursday it raised $300 million from investors including Mastercard , Silicon valley investor Peter Thiel and Canada's second largest public pension fund.

Verizon plans to cut about 2,000 jobs at Yahoo, AOL: source

(Reuters) - Verizon Communications Inc is expected to cut about 2,000 jobs when it completes its $4.48 billion acquisition of Yahoo Inc's core assets next week, a person briefed on the matter said.

Yahoo shareholders approve sale of core business to Verizon

(Reuters) - Yahoo Inc shareholders on Thursday approved the company's pending sale of its core internet business to Verizon Communications Inc for $4.48 billion, according to preliminary results from a shareholder meeting.

Microsoft agrees to buy U.S.-Israeli cyber firm Hexadite

A sign marks the Microsoft office in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. January 25, 2017. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

Boeing studies pilotless planes as it ponders next jetliner

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Boeing Co is looking ahead to a brave new world where jetliners fly without pilots and aims to test some of the technology next year, the world's biggest plane maker said in a briefing ahead of the Paris Airshow.

Wealth management data startup Addepar raises $140 million

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Addepar, a Silicon Valley-based startup that helps wealth management firms get a more comprehensive view of their clients' assets, has raised $140 million in a round led by Valor Equity Partners, 8VC and investment manager Harald McPike.

BT to drop auditors PwC, hire KPMG

(Reuters) - Britain's BT said on Thursday it would drop PricewaterhouseCoopers(PwC), its auditors since 1984, in favor of KPMG after an evaluation done following BT's Italy accounting scandal revealed "areas for improvement" for PwC.

Chinese exam authorities use facial recognition, drones to catch cheats

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese education authorities have gone high-tech to catch cheaters as millions of high-school students take their "gaokao", the annual university entrance exam seen as key to landing a lucrative white-collar job.

Alibaba CFO says expects revenue growth of 45-49 percent in FY2018

BEIJING (Reuters) - Alibaba Group Holding Ltd expects revenue growth of 45-49 percent in the 2018 fiscal year, said Chief Financial Officer Maggie Wu on Thursday during an investor conference in Hangzhou, China.

TSMC will consider Taiwan sites ahead of offshore ones for new foundry

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, the world's largest contract chipmaker, will consider sites in Taiwan before offshore options when it decides the location of a multi-billion dollar foundry early next year, a company spokeswoman said on Thursday.

Kinnevik sells out of Rocket Internet for 20 euros per share

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Swedish investor Kinnevik said on Thursday it had sold its remaining 6.6 percent stake in German ecommerce company Rocket Internet at 20 euros ($22.50) per share to institutional investors.

Honda to focus on self-driving cars, robotics, EVs through 2030

HAGA, Japan (Reuters) - Japanese carmaker Honda Motor Co on Thursday spelled out for the first time its plans to develop autonomous cars which can drive on city streets by 2025, building on its strategy to take on rivals in the auto market of the future.

EU seeks to expedite police requests for data from tech firms

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union wants to make it easier for law enforcement authorities to get electronic evidence directly from tech companies, such as Facebook Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google, even when stored in another European country.