31/12/2025

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Meta to buy Chinese startup Manus to boost advanced AI

KKR, KREATE PURCHASE CHEONGNA LOGISTICS CENTER OF SOUTH KOREA SEOUL: Global investment firm KKR and its affiliated Korean asset manager, Kreate Asset Manage ment, said yesterday they have purchased Cheongna Logistics Center, in what they called South Korea’s largest single-asset lo gistics deal. The companies did not disclose the financial terms of the transaction. One person with knowledge of the matter said the deal would value the Incheon based logistics asset at slightly more than 1 trillion won (RM2.28 billion), including debt. The source could not be named as the information was confidential. Brookfield Asset Management, which sold the logistics centre to the KKR-led consortium, said in a separate statement yesterday it has completed the sale, without disclosing financial details. The 4.6 million-square-foot facility, com pleted in 2022, is fully leased and strategically located within the Greater Seoul metropolitan area, KKR said. – Reuters NOVO, LILLY REDUCE PRICES OF THEIR OBESITY DRUGS IN CHINA BEIJING: Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are lowering prices of their top selling obesity drugs Wegovy and Mounjaro in China, according to the Danish drugmaker and Chinese drug suppliers. Novo did not give details on the new prices, but media outlet Yicai reported earlier that list prices for the two highest dosages of Wegovy were cut by 48% to 987 yuan (RM571) and 1,284 yuan per month respectively in some Chinese provinces. “We can confirm that we are adjusting our prices of Wegovy in China,” the Danish firm told Reuters in a statement. Lilly did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Prices for Lilly’s Mounjaro would also decrease from Jan 1, according to a WeChat account for a hospital in the eastern city of Nanjing posted late last week. It did not say how much prices would be slashed. – Reuters

BR I E F S

is only beginning,” Manus chief executive Xiao Hong said on X. “And now (with Meta), we get to build it at a scale we never could have imagined.” Meta will operate and sell the Manus service and integrate it into its consumer and business pro ducts, including in Meta AI, the company said. Bloomberg Intelligence analysts said the purchase is likely aimed at expanding Meta’s AI agent task capabilities, and that it could be worth more than US$2 billion. However, “it could draw regu latory scrutiny given that Singa pore-based Manus was founded in China”, the analysts said. Tech giants such as Meta have been ramping up AI investments through strategic acquisitions and talent hires as they navigate fierce and is seeking an upgrade to developed-market status, with South Korea currently classified as an emerging market by Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI). The rally was driven by heavyweight chipmakers, with Samsung Electronics jumping 125% and SK Hynix surging 274% this year. Together, they account for more than 40% of the benchmark’s market capitalisation. Yesterday, Samsung Electronics rose 0.33%, and SK Hynix jumped 1.72%, hitting record highs on a US approval for chip manufacturing equipment shipments to China, although declines in battery makers offset their gains. Annual exports from Asia’s fourth

industry competition. Earlier this year, the Facebook-owner invested in Scale AI in a deal that valued the data-labelling startup at US$29 billion and brought in its 28-year old CEO, Alexandr Wang. Manus, backed by its parent Beijing Butterfly Effect Technology, raised US$75 million this year at a valuation of around US$500 million, the source said. Its investors also include HSG, formerly known as Sequoia Capital China, ZhenFund and internet giant Tencent Holdings , PitchBook data showed. It is among a flurry of Chinese firms that have domiciled in Singa pore in recent years, betting a move to the trade-focused city-state would reduce risks their operations get disrupted by Sino-US geopolitical tensions. – Reuters, AFP largest economy surpassed US$700 billion (RM2.8 trillion) for the first time this year, despite a hit from US President Donald Trump’s tariffs. Semiconductor shipments surged on AI demand, which analysts expect to remain robust through next year. Among other sectors, financial groups rose 71% and securities firms doubled in 2025 on optimism around the government’s push to boost the stock market. The won has strengthened 2.3% so far this year to 1,439.0 per dollar and is set to snap four consecutive years of losses. It was hovering around 16-year lows until last week, when the government stepped up efforts to stabilise the currency. – Reuters

o Sources say deal values Singapore-based firm at between US$2 billion and US$3 billion

SEOUL: South Korean shares posted their biggest yearly gain in more than two decades in 2025, driven by a chipmaker rally on the global artificial intelligence (AI) boom and the new government’s market reforms. The benchmark Kospi ended the last trading session of the year down 0.15% at 4,214.17 yesterday after range-bound trading near record highs hit in November, but still rose 75.6% for the year, its biggest gain since 1999. Markets will be closed today and tomorrow. The Kospi emerged as the world’s best-performing major stock market in 2025, outstripping a 21% rise in global stocks and a 27% gain in BENGALURU/HONG KONG: Meta said on Monday it would acquire Chinese-founded artificial intelligence startup Manus, as the technology giant accelerates efforts to integrate advanced AI across its platforms. Financial terms of its transaction with Manus were not released, but a source with direct knowledge of the matter said the deal values the Singapore-based firm at between US$2 billion and US$3 billion (RM8.1 billion and RM12.2 billion). Manus did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Once hailed as China’s next DeepSeek, Manus went viral earlier

this year on X after it released what it claimed was the world’s first general AI agent, capable of making decisions and executing tasks auto nomously, with much less promp ting required than AI chatbots. Manus can for example sift through and summarise resumes or create a stock analysis website, according to its website. Meta said Monday that the deal will “bring a leading agent to billions of people and unlock opportunities for businesses across our products”. “The era of AI that doesn’t just talk, but acts, creates, and delivers, broader Asian markets . “We expect the Kospi, still undervalued, to be on its own upward trend next year, as favourable external conditions, the semiconductor up-cycle, and the government’s policy drive make it even more attractive,” said Daishin Securities analyst Lee Kyoung-min, who set next year’s target at 5,300. Since taking office on June 4, President Lee Jae Myung’s administration has introduced market reforms aimed at narrowing the so-called “Korea Discount”, driven by opaque governance and low dividend payouts. The government has revised the Commercial Act to strengthen minority shareholder protections

South Korean share market posts best year since 1999

SoftBank to acquire DigitalBridge in US$4 billion deal

BENGALURU: SoftBank Group will acquire digital infra structure investor DigitalBridge Group in a deal valued at US$4 billion (RM16.2 billion), the companies said on Monday, as the Japanese investment firm looks to deepen its AI-related portfolio. The acquisition would expand SoftBank’s exposure to digital infrastructure as the Japanese conglomerate is posi tioning its portfolio to focus on artificial intelligence. DigitalBridge shares rose about 9.7% to US$15.27 on Monday, following a 45% rise earlier this month after Bloom berg News first reported the acquisition talks. The US$16 per share offer represents a 15% premium over DigitalBridge’s closing price on Friday and values the company at US$2.92 billion, with the deal expected to close in the second half of next year. SoftBank’s billionaire founder

in 2021 after shedding most of its legacy property assets. Ganzi will continue leading DigitalBridge as a separately managed platform, the com panies said. As of Sept 30, DigitalBridge managed around US$108 billion in assets, making it one of the largest dedicated in vestors in the digital eco system. The company, along with OpenAI, Oracle and Abu Dhabi based tech investor MGX, is investing billions of dollars in the Stargate project, a large scale computing and infra structure initiative aimed at supporting advanced AI development. OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank said in September they plan to build five new computing sites across Texas, New Mexico and Ohio, which are expected to have a combined power capa city of about seven gigawatts when in operation. – Reuters

Masayoshi Son is seeking to capitalise on surging demand for the computing capacity that underpins artificial intelligence applications. The acquisition “is certainly a milestone in solving critical infrastructure issues”, said Jacob Yahiayan, CEO at DigitalBridge investor Urban Logistic Advi sory Services, but noted Soft Bank is still far from controlling 10% of the global hardware-as a-service and software-as-a service market. DigitalBridge invests in digital infrastructure sectors such as data centres, cell towers, fibre networks, small-cell sys tems and edge infrastructure, with a portfolio including com panies such as Vantage Data Centers, Zayo, Switch and AtlasEdge. Founded in 1991 as real estate-focused Colony Capital, the firm pivoted under CEO Marc Ganzi into digital infrastructure and rebranded as DigitalBridge

Son attending an event to pitch AI for businesses in Tokyo in February. The SoftBank founder is seeking to capitalise on surging demand for the computing capacity that underpins artificial intelligence applications. – REUTERSPIC