Company Briefs: Grab

South-east Asian ride-hailing and food delivery giant Grab has raised about US$300 million (S$398 million) from investors led by South Korea's Hanwha Asset Management for its rapidly expanding financial services business.

Grab said this is the first external funding for the fintech unit, which has laid out ambitious plans in insurance, lending, wealth management and payments.

REUTERS

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Ascott Residence Trust

Ascott Residence Trust (ART) has obtained a five-year, $50 million green loan from DBS Bank to finance its maiden development - lyf one-north Singapore.

The 324-unit co-living property was one of the 15 ART properties that attained green certifications last year, bringing the group's total number of green properties to 21, it noted yesterday.

Slated for completion in the fourth quarter this year, lyf one-north will be fitted with energy-efficient and smart building features, including an energy monitoring system, motion sensors and energy-efficient lighting.

THE BUSINESS TIMES

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China Evergrande

China Evergrande Group was downgraded to "sell" by UBS Group analysts, who said shares of the world's most indebted developer may lose more than half their value.

UBS cut its rating on Evergrande from neutral on Tuesday, according to Bloomberg. The bank also slashed the 12-month target price to HK$6 from the HK$15.20 set last September.

UBS expects Evergrande's contract sales to decline by 2 per cent to 707 billion yuan (S$145 billion) this year. Last week, Evergrande said it aims to reach 750 billion yuan of contract sales this year.

BLOOMBERG