Burger King agreed on Thursday to sell itself to the investment firm 3G Capital for about $4 billion, including the assumption of debt, marking the second time in eight years that the fast-food giant has taken itself private. The agreement on Thursday for Burger King Holdings to be acquired by a Brazilian-backed investment firm, like a deal two years ago for Anheuser-Busch that involved some of the same investors, is one of those emblematic transactions that seem to herald the emergence of a new global business player.
The growth of the Brazilian economy in recent years has created a whole new class of wealthy entrepreneurs who are looking for opportunities to invest their fortunes and are not daunted by the idea of trying their luck beyond Brazil’s borders. Traditionally, Brazilian business has been dominated by an often cautious elite based in São Paulo, the country’s industrial and financial hub. But the economic surge of the last decade has changed that.
One thing is clear, though: Brazil’s dominance in all phases of the global beef industry. The country is already the leading beef exporter and now, thanks to the Burger King deal on Thursday, it has another outlet to encourage consumption globally [Source].
The cost of breakfast rises. Raw ingredients for breakfast in much of the rich world have increased in price by 25% since the beginning of June.
Severe drought and wildfires in Russia, the world’s fourth largest wheat producer, have destroyed a fifth of the country’s crop and sent prices soaring. Since the end of June wheat prices have more than doubled. But wheat is not alone. The price of orange juice has also risen recently, probably thanks to bets placed on the likelihood of tropical storms. Coffee prices, which hit a 13-year high, are a result of poor harvests [Source].
The investment arms of the CIA and Google are both backing a company that monitors the web in real time — and says it uses that information to predict the future.
Google Ventures and In-Q-Tel, the CIA’s investment arm, have injected sums (less than $10 million each) into Recorded Future, a company that goes through “tens of thousands” of websites and looks for related actions and conversations between, for example, Twitter accounts, blogs and websites, and analyzes them in order to spot events and trends as early on as possible [Source].
Got a bright idea? How about an energy-saving one? GE announced today a $200 million “open innovation challenge” that invites inventors, entrepreneurs, and startups of all stripes to compete to develop the next-generation of power grid technologies.
Called the Ecomagination Challenge, this huge investment comes only weeks after GE announced a $10 billion injection into its own eco-R&D projects.Along with four VC firms that have pledged half of the $200 million to the challenge, GE is asking the public for innovative ideas in clean technology. From now until September 30, you can head to the Ecomagination homepage to submit a proposal or vote for other user-generated ideas.
GE explained earlier today that the $200 million investment could lead to acquisition or co-development opportunities, and even trademark and licensing deals. “This is wide-open,” said another investor in the challenge, who commented that the challenge should serve as a catalyst for novel ideas, regardless of who comes up with them, whether an individual or well-funded start-up [Source].
VCs are on the hunt, and it doesn’t matter if a company is in Boston, Beijing, or Menlo Park, they’re looking to fund great ideas anywhere in the world. Some are even opening offices overseas in an effort to find the next big international thing.
For decades, the success of Silicon Valley has been undeniable. Venture capitalists’ investments have spawned some of the world’s most recognizable brands. Apple, Google, Intel, Cisco, Yahoo, eBay, and dozens of other household names were born and nurtured here. However, the model is changing. Venture capitalists and the companies they fund are looking beyond the Valley more often and with an eye to replicating the success of the Valley in other parts of the world ready for entrepreneurialism, risk, and reward. Find the complete article here.
The centre of the venture capital universe happens to revolve near Stanford University in California: Sand Hill Road to be precise. Explore the firms that drive the industry by clicking here for an interactive video.
As national governments fail to cut carbon, cities are starting to take the initiative with programs aimed at reining in emissions. The efforts could have a profound impact: Cities are home to more than half the world’s population and pump out more than two-thirds of global carbon dioxide.
From the motorways of Los Angeles to the canals of Amsterdam, cities are taking the lead in the fight to reduce carbon output. As world leaders squabble over how to cut greenhouse gases, city hall is becoming the best hope for climate action. Given their smaller jurisdictions, local officials can green-light eco-projects faster than nationwide schemes can be implemented.
In Amsterdam, city elders are in the midst of a five-year, $1 billion program to improve creaking infrastructure. Amsterdam’s 2,400 houseboats have been fitted to use electricity instead of diesel, and cargo barges are now being converted as well. New York, meanwhile, has laid out a program called “PlaNYC.” The scheme includes tax breaks for solar panels, legal changes that spur property owners to make buildings more energy-efficient, and power plants that use food waste and wood chips. Find the complete special report on Green Energy here.
The World Competitiveness Yearbook 2010 from Swiss business school IMD finds the U.S. and Europe losing their edge to fast-growing Asian economies.
A lot can change in 12 months. At this time last year, Western nations dominated the annual ranking of the world’s most competitive countries prepared by the IMD business school in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Now, in the most recent ranking released May 19, five of the top 10 are from the Asia-Pacific region. Emerging-power China, ranked No. 18, has gained ground, even as No. 3-ranked U.S. and No. 22-ranked Britain slipped in the global pecking order. Check out the top 10 here.
Microsoft bids to keep its grip on corporate computing against Google’s challenge.
In a significant move, Microsoft announced new, web-based versions of popular applications such as Word and Excel as part of the “Office 2010” release, and unveiled changes designed to make it easier for workers to collaborate using its software. These initiatives come at a critical time in the evolution of corporate computing. After dominating the office desktop for so long, Microsoft now faces a growing challenge from a variety of companies that are betting they can leverage the cloud to erode its share of the market.
Among other things, the new, web-based version of Office will make it much easier for workers to use documents and spreadsheets on a host of different devices, including smart phones. Microsoft has also tweaked its software to make it easier for people to, say, embed videos in PowerPoint presentations and to integrate data from their social networks into online calendars and e-mail services. And the company plans to offer a free, stripped down version of its web apps that will compete directly with Google’s mass-market offering [Source].
A sharp brand certainly helps. Portfolio.com ranked the top 25 brands for small- to mid-sized businesses in the USA. Find here the results.
Furthermore, you can find Portfolio’s special report on branding here. Insightful article are how Singapore branded itself and how Nike is branding itself beyond the swoosh.
It was probably only a matter of time before China and Google would find themselves in a major conflict. On the one hand, you have an authoritarian government that believes it has the right to censor information available to its citizens. On the other, you have a California-based Internet company committed to the free flow of information.
In mid-March, Google halted operation of its Internet search engine on the Chinese mainland and started directing users to its Hong Kong site, which is uncensored. Chinese officials retaliated on March 29 by blocking some of Google’s mobile Internet services. Knowledge@Wharton discussed the entire matter here.
Burger King agreed on Thursday to sell itself to the investment firm 3G Capital for about $4 billion, including the assumption of debt, marking the second time in eight years that the fast-food giant has taken itself private. The agreement on Thursday for Burger King Holdings to be acquired by a Brazilian-backed investment firm, like a deal two years ago for Anheuser-Busch that involved some of the same investors, is one of those emblematic transactions that seem to herald the emergence of a new global business player.
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