Reuters News

WASHINGTON, Sept 22 (Reuters) – U.S. Republican lawmakers investigating government loan guarantees to the green energy sector have turned their focus to key private investors in the failed Solyndra solar company, asking them for a huge raft of documents. The U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce committee wants Argonaut Private Equity and Madrone Capitol […]

(Reuters) – Global buyout firms in Asia-Pacific see growing investment opportunities in the region in the next six to nine months as companies seek alternative sources of financing because of turmoil in global markets and tighter credit. While rising competition presents challenges, private equity firms including CVC Capital Partners Ltd, Carlyle Group and KKR & […]

(Reuters)–Giant Interactive Group Inc said it will invest $50 million in China’s e-commerce company Alibaba Group through an investment in Yunfeng e-Commerce Funds. Yunfeng e-Commerce Funds was established by Yunfeng Capital, a China-based private equity firm co-founded by Alibaba CEO Jack Ma. The share purchase is expected to close before the end of the year, […]

(Reuters) – U.S. firm Wyse Technology on Wednesday rolled out a new version of its PocketCloud application, enabling free sharing of music and videos between consumers’ mobile devices. Instead of saving content to far-away servers and then downloading it every time it is used, PocketCloud links devices with each other — for example allowing users […]

(Reuters) – Regulators hashing out the details of a new ban on proprietary trading are wrestling with internal disagreements over how much leeway to give banks when it comes to their ability to hedge risk, according to people familiar with the negotiations. The ban is known as the Volcker rule, named after former Federal Reserve […]

(Reuters) – Solyndra LLC’s chief executive and chief financial officer will invoke their Fifth Amendment rights and decline to answer any questions put to them at a Congressional hearing on Friday, according to letters from their attorneys obtained by Reuters. In the letters sent to the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and […]

(Reuters) – Facebook is looking to hire a big-name executive to cultivate relationships and strike deals with the film and music industries to bolster its media offerings. In recent months, Facebook had discussions with former MySpace co-President and former MTV executive Jason Hirschhorn about a job spearheading the company’s outreach to media companies, according to […]

(Reuters) – Google Inc has enlisted Visa Inc in its effort to push mobile payments, striking an agreement to allow Visa account-holders to pay for store purchases with their smartphones. Visa comes onboard a “Google Wallet” project already supported by Citigroup, MasterCard, Sprint Nextel Corp and First Data. In May, the group announced a trial […]

(Reuters) – An $80 million investment in a Chinese baby diaper producer normally wouldn’t generate much buzz. But last week’s deal for AAB China was interesting for a few reasons, among them the involvement of Richard Ong’s new $2.3 billion private equity fund. The deal shows that private equity firms, like Ong’s RRJ Capital, are […]

(Reuters) – Congress should seek testimony from two venture capital firms that poured money into Solyndra, the bankrupt solar panel maker being probed by the FBI and other agencies, top House Democrats said on Monday. Republican lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce are investigating a $533 million federal loan guarantee given to Solyndra, and […]