Company Briefs: Volkswagen

Volkswagen of America's purported name change to "Voltswagen" was an April Fool's joke that fell flat.

On Monday, the carmaker briefly posted, then removed, a draft press release on its website supposedly announcing it was changing its name to promote electric vehicles. VW then put out a media release on Tuesday pledging to rebrand itself "Voltswagen" in the United States as "a public declaration of the company's future-forward investment in e-mobility."

Later that day, the company fessed up. It said: "The renaming was designed to be an announcement in the spirit of April Fool's Day."

BLOOMBERG

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Coursera

Online education provider Coursera said on Tuesday that it had priced its initial public offering (IPO) in New York at US$33 apiece, the higher end of its target range that gives the company a valuation of about US$4.3 billion (S$5.8 billion).

At this price, the company will raise about US$519 million. Coursera was among the companies to have benefited from a surge in demand for online learning platforms during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Its revenue rose 59 per cent to US$293.5 million for the year ended Dec 31, 2020, the company had said last month while filing for the IPO.

REUTERS

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Sembcorp

Sembcorp Industries unit Sembcorp Development will be involved in the development of a new industrial park in Vietnam's Quang Tri province, Sembcorp Industries said on Tuesday night.

The investment licence for the Quang Tri Industrial Park project has been issued to a consortium that includes Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park Joint Venture, a collaboration between Sembcorp Development and longstanding partner Becamex IDC Corporation. Sembcorp Development's effective ownership in the project will be 29.6 per cent.

THE BUSINESS TIMES