Company Briefs: Metro

Property group Metro Holdings has set up a new student accommodation fund named Paideia Capital UK Trust with property player Lee Kim Tah Holdings and construction and engineering group Woh Hup Holdings to acquire properties in Britain.

The fund, which has a first close of £60 million (S$106 million), will acquire its first purpose-built student accommodation seed property known as Red Queen, Warwick for £21.5 million, Metro said yesterday.

Metro's wholly owned subsidiary Sun Capital Assets entered a joint venture with Lee Kim Tah and Woh Hup's Aurum Investments to set it up.

THE BUSINESS TIMES

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SoftBank

SoftBank will file to raise between US$500 million (S$670 million) and US$600 million through a public offering of a special-purpose acquisition company (Spac), Axios reported, citing multiple unidentified people familiar with the plans.

It would be the first Spac for SoftBank. The company is also preparing at least two additional vehicles, Axios said.

Goldman Sachs Group and Citigroup are managing the process.

BLOOMBERG

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SMIC

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), China's largest chipmaker, saw its shares fall by as much as 4.8 per cent in Hong Kong yesterday after warning that its inclusion in a United States blacklist will have a "major adverse impact" on the development of advanced technology.

Research and development of 10-nanometre chips and more sophisticated technologies will be affected, though the blacklist will not have a significant impact on SMIC's operations and finances in the short term, the company said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

BLOOMBERG