12/05/2026

BIZ & FINANCE TUESDAY | MAY 12, 2026

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Jio Platforms IPO pivots to pure fundraising

teahouse in Hong Kong’s central financial district is hosting “dim sum raves” to draw younger customers with tea-flavoured alcohol, dumplings and electronic music. Lin Heung Lau teahouse first opened in Hong Kong in the 1920s. The restaurant is famous for its traditional trolley table service where diners choose delicacies including prawn dumplings and barbecued pork buns from steaming bamboo baskets. On Saturday night, the teahouse transformed into a nightclub with a large sparkling disco ball, strobe lighting and a DJ playing electronic and Cantonese music for 300 partygoers from Gen Z to people in their 40s and 50s. “I think what’s most special is that there are shrimp dumplings, Siu Mai and a DJ spinning records,“ said 30-year-old Luna Chan, who travelled from the neighbouring city of Macau for the event. Siu Mai are a popular type of steamed prawn and pork dumpling. Hong Kong’s retail and food and beverage outlets have struggled since the Covid pandemic, which hit tourism and accelerated a change in the way mainland Chinese visitors spent their money. Local residents are also heading across the border to mainland China where they can shop and eat more cheaply. At least 14 restaurants have shut in the past four months, local media reported last month, including many long-established restaurants and catering chains. “Everyone knows Hong Kong’s economy has been in a downturn for the past few years but we rely on brand recognition to shine through,“ MUMBAI: billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio Platforms has shifted its planned Mumbai IPO to a pure fundraising exercise, abandoning earlier plans that would have allowed major foreign investors to sell some of their shares, two sources said yesterday. Jio Platforms, which owns the world’s second-largest telecom o Investors want to remain invested in Indian company for longer, sources say Indian

Gong Cha’s planned US$2b sale draws private equity interest TAIPEI: Bubble tea chain Gong Cha has attracted suitors including buyout firms Bain Capital and General Atlantic in a deal that seller TA Associates expects will fetch as much as US$2 billion, two people with knowledge of the matter said. The Boston-based private equity firm has hired JPMorgan to run the sale and is expecting binding bids by mid-June, one of the people said. Gong Cha makes more than US$70 million in annual earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, the person said. A value of US$2 billion would imply a multiple of nearly 30 times core earnings. Buyers are inclined to offer a lower multiple, the two sources said. TA Associates did not respond to a request for comment. Gong Cha, Bain Capital, General Atlantic and JPMorgan declined to comment. Founded in Taiwan in 2006, Gong Cha has grown to become one of the world’s largest tea brands, with nearly 2,200 locations in 32 markets through direct and franchise stores. It sells milk tea, fruit tea and other cold drinks through stores in Asia, North America, Europe and the Middle East, according to its website. Group revenue rose 14% to US$217 million last year, driven by growth in Japan and South Korea. Gong Cha also expanded into five new markets last year, including Thailand, Colombia and Ecuador, and completed strategic acquisitions of master franchisees on the east and west coasts of the United States. TA Associates, which focuses on growth opportunities, invested in Gong Cha in 2019, its website shows. – Reuters In 2020, Jio raised funds from major global investors who were betting on India’s rapidly expanding digital economy where smartphone penetration is accelerating, internet costs are among the lowest in the world and a young, mobile-first population is coming online. In November, investment bank Jefferies estimated Reliance Jio’s valuation would be US$180 billion (RM706 billion). Sources told Reuters in January that the IPO could be worth as much as US$4 billion, though final numbers would be decided later. Reliance Jio Platforms has hired 17 banks to manage its Mumbai listing. – Reuters

March, was pushed back following the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran, with investors losing appetite for new listings. In March, Walmart-backed Indian fintech firm PhonePe paused plans for an IPO, citing geopolitical tensions and volatility in global capital markets. The Iran war is certainly an “overhang,” said the first source, speaking about Jio Platform’s delayed IPO filing. Jio Platforms’ listing is a key plank of Ambani’s long-term vision to transform Reliance from an oil-and-chemicals giant into an “everything company” spanning consumer, retail and technology.

sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. They requested anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media. Reliance now plans to raise fresh funds totalling 2.5% of the company’s size. “Investors were not keen to sell and wanted to stay invested for the long term,” one of the sources said. The Economic Times was first to report on the company’s plans to pivot to a fresh fundraising with the offering yesterday. Jio Platforms did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. The filing for the Jio Platforms IPO, which was expected as early as

company by users after China Mobile, counts Meta, Alphabet’s Google and Vista Equity Partners among its investors. Its initial public offering has been long-awaited and could be India’s largest ever. The firm earlier held discussions with its foreign investors for each to sell 8% of their individual holdings in the IPO, totalling 2.5% of the company, Reuters reported previously. That would have allowed new investors to come in and let foreign investors sell some of their holdings without any fresh fundraising in a process called an offer-for-sale in India. That plan has been dropped, two

Teahouse holds dim sum raves to revive HK’s appeal HONG KONG: A century-old

A general view of Lin Heung Lau, one of the oldest tea houses in Hong Kong. – REUTERSPIC

district, reopened yesterday at a new location nearby. It hopes to stage the themed raves every month, tapping into a global Gen Z trend for parties that blend music with food, culture and wellness, including popular coffee raves and daytime parties. – Reuters

brand and service,“ Wong said. To maintain the restaurant’s popularity, it had to keep trying new things such as the dim sum rave experience, he added. Lin Heung Lau has three branches and, after closing its historic site in the city’s Central

said Rocky Wong, chairman of Lin Heung Lau. “Although many people travel north to mainland China every month, which we can’t stop, having 47 million tourists coming to Hong Kong balances that out. “We just focus on improving our

Nintendo shares plunge after profit warning TOKYO: Nintendo shares fell nearly 10% yesterday after the Japanese gaming giant warned of lower profits and said it would hike the price of its Switch 2 console. intelligence boom have also hit makers of game consoles and other devices, while disruptions linked to the Iran war have exacerbated supply problems.

But gaming industry consultant Serkan Toto told AFP ahead of the results that Nintendo is in a difficult position as Switch 2 customers are “especially price sensitive”. “The first year game lineup for Switch 2 is much weaker than for its predecessor,“ he said. “But now it’s time for them to really step on the gas on the software side.” – AFP

US$499.99 and in Europe by 6% to €499.99. The firm’s net profit surged 52% to ¥424 billion last year on annual sales of ¥2.31 trillion, nearly doubling from the previous year. By the end of March, the company had sold 19.86 million units of its new console, thanks to games like Pokemon Pokopia , Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza .

In early trade in Tokyo yesterday, Nintendo shares dropped as much as 9.9% to ¥6,908. Nintendo said Friday that the Switch 2 price in Japan will rise 20% from May 25, and from Sept 1 by 11% in the United States to

The company said on Friday it expected net profit to plunge 27% in the current financial year, with analysts pointing to a lacklustre line-up of new games. Soaring prices for memory chips fuelled by the artificial