Tag Archive for 'Europe'

Russian internet biggest in Europe; will earnings follow?

Published on November 14, 2011 in High Tech & Media. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

The moment Mail.ru and Yandex investors have been waiting for has arrived: Russia, at long last, has finally surpassed Germany to become the largest internet market in Europe.

According to comScore, the research firm, Russia had 50.8m internet users in September versus 50.1m users in Germany. And, luckily for those who bought into Russian internet stocks such as Mail.ru and Yandex at sky-high valuations, the market still has a lot of growth left.

With broadband penetration set to reach 60m people in Russia this year – a third of the population – there is still a large swath of the country where the internet revolution has yet to take hold [Source].

China: growing taste for European M&A

Published on October 27, 2011 in Emerging Markets and Global Strategy. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Chinese companies are increasing their appetite for corporate acquisitions in Europe.

As Jamil Anderlini writes in today’s FT, the Rhodium Group, an economic consultancy, predicts Chinese groups will invest up to $1,000bn in overseas acquisitions over the next decade, with a big slice of this investment heading to Europe.

In the past decade, China has mostly focused on companies in the US and Australia, as the chart below shows. But wobbly stock markets and declining valuations in Europe have also made assets there attractive.

Europe is China’s most targeted region this year, attracting more than $12bn via 64 deals, and accounting for nearly 30 per cent of all Chinese outbound M&A in terms of deal value, according to Dealogic. This is up from just $2.5bn via 35 deals during the same period a earlier year, accounting for only 6 per cent of total Chinese outbound M&A [Read more].

Norway rides wave of prosperity on back of oil

Published on August 31, 2011 in International Business and International Finance. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Blessed with large petroleum reserves, as well as robust public finances, Norway’s economy has managed to largely circumvent the EU debt crisis.

Blessed with large petroleum reserves, Norway is riding a wave of prosperity brought by high oil prices and robust public finances while the rest of Europe is mired in a debt crisis.

This Scandinavian nation of 4.9 million is the biggest oil producer and exporter in western Europe, with most of the oil production taking place offshore in the North Sea. Norway was also the world’s second largest exporter of natural gas after Russia last year, when crude oil, natural gas and pipeline transport services made up nearly 50% of its exports value.

To make sure future generations also benefit from the oil resources first discovered in 1969 and which will eventually run out, Norway saves petroleum revenues in a pension fund valued at roughly $550 billion. The so-called 4% fiscal rule limits the swings in the Norwegian economy; under the rule, the government aims to spend only 4% of the pension fund annually, though the exact percentage can vary [Read more].

Northern light: Sweden’s economy ‘a little Germany’

Published on August 31, 2011 in International Business and International Finance. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Sweden is one of Europe’s fastest growing economies and its success is noteworthy given
the debt woes plaguing southern Europe.

Residents of this capital radiate a sense of well-being and it’s not only because they live in a beautiful city built on 14 islands that draws comparisons to Venice. It’s also because they call home one of Europe’s fastest growing economies.

The success of this export-oriented Nordic nation is noteworthy, because it’s in stark contrast to the debt woes plaguing Greece, Portugal and other southern euro-zone countries. Sweden is a member of the European Union, but it has chosen to keep its own currency. Public debt levels are relatively low and the government expects a budget surplus this year [Read more].

Silicon Roundabout

Published on November 28, 2010 in Global Strategy, High Tech & Media and International Business. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

London’s high-tech start-ups: A patch of east London has quickly become a world-class technology hub. Last.fm, a music website and Silicon Roundabout’s biggest success so far, was bought by CBS Interactive, an American company, for £140m ($280m) in 2007.

Silicon Roundabout’s firms are generally small-to-medium sized and highly specialised. One makes software for the fashion industry; another runs an online dictionary. There is a hotel-comparison website, a firm specialising in 3D and interactive content, and several digital-design firms with their own niches.

Measured by the concentration of technology firms and the availability of generous and informed investors, California’s Silicon Valley is still in a league of its own. But in the second division of hubs, this chunk of east London is near the top, along with the likes of Boston and Tel Aviv.

Silicon Roundabout emerged without government support, or even direct links with universities, should pique the interest of countries that have tried to cultivate technology hubs without the same success [Source].

World Cup Winners and Losers

Published on July 12, 2010 in Ranting and Raving. 0 Comments Tags: .

In case you weren’t one of the 700 million-plus fans to watch the World Cup Finals yesterday, Spain beat the Netherlands 1-0 in extra time. But the España football stars weren’t the only winners–and certainly the Holland footballers were not the only losers. Companies around the world were competing to increase brand awareness and boost profits–here’s FastCompany’s list of the winners and losers.

A New World Order in Innovation

Published on April 17, 2010 in Global Strategy. 0 Comments Tags: , .

For the first time since Bloomberg BusinessWeek began its annual Most Innovative Companies ranking in 2005, the majority of corporations in the Top 25 are based outside the U.S.

Respectively, 12 are from the US and 13 from outside US with notably companies from South-Korea. The reason: the new global leaders coming out of Asia. However, a bit worrisome are companies from Europe, the first company on the list is ranked 16.

Please find the complete list here. Also check out this HBS working knowledge article from 2005 on “The Rise of Innovation in Asia“.

A Global Melting Pot of Ideas

Published on January 23, 2010 in High Tech & Media, International Business and Social Media. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Follow live coverage of the DLD in Munich, Germany, a gathering of 800 entrepreneurs, investors, philanthropists, scientists, artists and creative minds from around the world.

With global diversity in attendees and an interdisciplinary perspective of digital, media, design, art, science, brands, consumers and society, the conference is known as the European forum for the “creative class”. Follow live coverage here.

Social media initiatives from Europe

Published on June 20, 2009 in Social Media. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

social_media_bandwagonA snapshot of initiatives by European companies on how they capture and employ social media into their marketing and online activities can be found here.

Its positive to notice that companies adopt new technologies and web-service as an integral part of business to reach consumers in a more targeted way.

European Election 2009

Published on June 8, 2009 in Personal. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

european_election_2009

A backgrounder can be found here.