LBLV TeamViewer acquires AR software US firm Upskill 2021/02/03

LBLV provides an overview of economic news.

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The main economic news for Tuesday, March 2:


0:00 Ebay and Adevinta sell UK units to form alliance
1:03 TeamViewer acquires AR software US firm Upskill
1:57 Global stocks fall amid bubble concerns in China
2:59 Germany's sales drop more-than-expected in Jan

1. Ebay and Adevinta sell UK units to form alliance
Norway's Adevinta and U.S. e-commerce group eBay intend to sell three small British divisions in order to get regulatory approval for a long-planned tie-up of their global classified ads business, the two firms said Tuesday. Britain's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said last month that Adevinta and eBay would have to resolve watchdog issues before proceeding with a $9.2 billion deal. In response to the CMA's concerns, Adevinta and eBay offered to sell each company's primary listings in the U.K., known as Shpock, Gumtree and motors.co.uk. Adevinta and eBay said they intend to close their deal in the second quarter of 2021, subject to final ratification of the CMA plan and regulatory approvals in Austria.

2. TeamViewer acquires AR software US firm Upskill
German remote connectivity software company TeamViewer said Tuesday that it has acquired Upskill, a U.S. company specializing in augmented reality applications for frontline workers. The deal marks CEO Oliver Stale's third takeover, as the Göppingen-headquartered TeamViewer was listed on the private equity exchange Permira in September 2019. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. But in an interview, Steele said the Upskill takeover would strengthen TeamViewer's presence in the U.S. market, the largest by billing volume. It still has a presence in the market for deals that would expand its portfolio. With the acquisition of Upskill, TeamViewer gains the ability to support workers using smart glasses and handheld devices to inspect factory equipment, as well as a customer list that includes Boeing and Merck KGaA.

3. Global stocks fall amid bubble concerns in China
Asian and European stocks fell Tuesday as a senior Chinese official warned of the risk of asset bubbles with the rapid influx of foreign capital, a property bubble and elevated global markets, as the recent bond sell-off still had a negative impact on investor sentiment. European markets appeared set for a lower opening, with the major indices down 0.4%-0.5%. Meanwhile, the broadest MSCI Asia-Pacific stock index outside Japan fell 0.33%, giving up early gains. Japan's Nikkei fell 0.85%. Mainland Chinese and Hong Kong stocks reversed course to trade lower after a senior regulator expressed concern about the risk of bubbles in foreign markets and said Beijing is exploring effective measures to manage capital inflows to prevent turbulence in the domestic market. On Monday, the Dow Jones index closed up 1.95% and the Nasdaq index jumped 3.01%. While the S&P 500 Index was up 2.38%, its highest gain since June.

4. Germany's sales drop more-than-expected in Jan
Retail sales in Germany in January 2021 fell by 4.5% compared to the previous month, according to data from the country's Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). Analysts had expected sales to decline by 0.3%, according to Trading Economics. Destatis attributed the drop to a second lockdown, which was imposed because of COVID-19 and led to partial store closures beginning Dec. 16. Compared to January 2020, retail sales are down 8.7%. Analysts had expected them to rise 1.3%. Food, beverage and tobacco retail sales rose 4.3% year over year in January 2021, while non-food sales fell 16.4%. Internet sales, meanwhile, rose 31.7%.