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Commercial Awareness Update: May 2019
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<blockquote data-quote="Angel" data-source="post: 11246" data-attributes="member: 980"><p><span style="color: #0000b3">Hi everyone! </span></p><p><span style="color: #0000b3"></span></p><p><span style="color: #0000b3">The topics covered this week are: </span></p><p><span style="color: #0000b3"></span></p><p><span style="color: #0000b3">1. Flourishing Fintech start-ups – Softbank </span><span style="color: #000000">[USER=1643]@Moni[/USER] </span></p><p><span style="color: #0000b3">2. Amazon’s investment in Deliveroo </span><span style="color: #000000">[USER=1160]@Alice G[/USER] </span></p><p><span style="color: #0000b3">3. US Retail Sales – Trade War </span><span style="color: #000000">[USER=525]@Sara Moon[/USER] </span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 179)">4. </span><span style="color: #0000b3">UK Retail Sales – Debenhams </span><span style="color: #000000">[USER=980]@Angel[/USER]</span><span style="color: #0000b3"> </span></p><p><span style="color: #0000b3">5. Consequences of the Huawei ban </span><span style="color: #000000">[USER=1]@Jaysen[/USER] </span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'"><span style="color: #0000b3"><em>Happy Reading! </em></span></span></p><p></p><p><strong><u>1. Flourishing Fintech start-ups [USER=1643]@Moni[/USER]</u></strong></p><p></p><p><strong>The story:</strong></p><p></p><p>This week, Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, bought an $800million stake in Greensill, a UK Fintech start-up. Greensill, a supply chain financing company that provides working capital funding, backed by payables to supplier, to companies. Since the 1990s, banks have generally been the traditional supplier of such financing and this industry has grown significantly since the global financial crisis. However, firms like Greensill are playing an increasingly important role in the supply chain finance industry and driving its recent growth.</p><p></p><p>Softbank invested in Greensill through its $100billion Vision Fund, the world’s largest tech investor, which typically makes VC investments in late-stage companies like Uber and Doordash. The fund also made a $440m investment in Oak North, a British bank start-up, earlier this year.</p><p></p><p>Softbank’s investment has increased Greensill’s valuation to about $3.5billion- a double of its previous valuation. The investment came at an important time for Greensill, which has recently been involved in a scandal relating to one of its largest shareholders, Greensill Asset Management. This scandal has caused Greensill a decrease in its assets under management by more than half. Softbank’s large bet on Greensill, despite its recent troubles, is a sign of its confidence in the role that Fintech companies will play in supply chain finance, and the financial services industry more broadly, in the coming years.</p><p></p><p><strong>Impact on businesses and law firms:</strong></p><p></p><p>Softbank’s investment in Greensill is yet another indicator that institutional investors and large banks are becoming increasingly aware of the value that Fintech companies can add to financial services. Also last week, Wells Fargo and Barclays provided a $17million in funding to OpenFin, a financial services software start-up backed by J.P. Morgan Chase.</p><p></p><p>As investment from institutional investors and big banks increases, start-ups providing financial services will continue to increase their customer base and consolidate their position in the industry as well. Given that many of these companies are introducing new technologies to the industry that disrupts old customer-service provider relationships, it will be interesting to see how they will be regulated, interact, and compete with traditional industry players.</p><p></p><p></p><p><strong><u>2. Amazon’s investment in Deliveroo @AliceG</u></strong></p><p></p><p><strong>The story:</strong></p><p></p><p>Last week, Amazon has led the latest $575 million funding round in Deliveroo. This marks the food delivery service’s eighth round of funding. Deliveroo’s founder, Will Shu, has expressed his excitement at working with Amazon who he had said is a ‘customer-obsessed organisation’. Mr Shu has said that he aims to invest the funds into better technology for Deliveroo and to further expand the international footprint of the company.</p><p></p><p><strong>Impact on businesses and law firms: </strong></p><p></p><p>In terms of the impact on Deliveroo itself, some riders have expressed some preliminary concerns about the potential influence of Amazon. Because the ‘trillion-dollar club’ business is so customer focused, as Mr Shu was quick to note, there are fears that riders may be fitted with timers or that riders might incur penalties for late deliveries to better the customer experience. One of the positives often espoused about the gig economy is the freedom that comes with it, but these measures would undoubtedly lead to such freedoms being curtailed. Not necessarily bad for customers of course, but for the inherent business model of Deliveroo this could be problematic for their riders and maybe the business as a whole.</p><p></p><p>Naturally, this investment round has led to a little bit of trouble for the stock prices of major rivals. JustEat suffered a share drop of 8% on Friday 17THand Uber’s already problematic IPO has not been bettered by this news either. This might mean that prices become even more competitive for consumers as these rivals vie for business.</p><p></p><p>From more of a legal and regulatory standpoint, Tom Watson MP was very quick to call upon the UK’s competition watchdog to investigate what he perceives to be Amazon’s further attempt to capture more customer data through this particular investment. Big data and the ways and means companies go about harnessing data for their own ends has been a hot topic of late, especially in terms of advertising and product development. Foucault is infamous for his proclamation ‘knowledge is power’ and never has that seemed more pertinent to this particular issue. Indeed, in years to come it will be the job of regulators and lawyers to protect our data and to legislate where the lines ought to be drawn upon such matters. Competition lawyers will be busy trying to ensure that we as consumers are protected and that business practices are fair, whilst also ensuring that innovation is not stifled.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Angel, post: 11246, member: 980"] [COLOR=#0000b3]Hi everyone! The topics covered this week are: 1. Flourishing Fintech start-ups – Softbank [/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][USER=1643]@Moni[/USER] [/COLOR] [COLOR=#0000b3]2. Amazon’s investment in Deliveroo [/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][USER=1160]@Alice G[/USER] [/COLOR] [COLOR=#0000b3]3. US Retail Sales – Trade War [/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][USER=525]@Sara Moon[/USER] [/COLOR] [COLOR=rgb(0, 0, 179)]4. [/COLOR][COLOR=#0000b3]UK Retail Sales – Debenhams [/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][USER=980]@Angel[/USER][/COLOR][COLOR=#0000b3] 5. Consequences of the Huawei ban [/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][USER=1]@Jaysen[/USER] [/COLOR] [FONT=Book Antiqua][COLOR=#0000b3][I]Happy Reading! [/I][/COLOR][/FONT] [B][U]1. Flourishing Fintech start-ups [USER=1643]@Moni[/USER][/U][/B] [B]The story:[/B] This week, Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, bought an $800million stake in Greensill, a UK Fintech start-up. Greensill, a supply chain financing company that provides working capital funding, backed by payables to supplier, to companies. Since the 1990s, banks have generally been the traditional supplier of such financing and this industry has grown significantly since the global financial crisis. However, firms like Greensill are playing an increasingly important role in the supply chain finance industry and driving its recent growth. Softbank invested in Greensill through its $100billion Vision Fund, the world’s largest tech investor, which typically makes VC investments in late-stage companies like Uber and Doordash. The fund also made a $440m investment in Oak North, a British bank start-up, earlier this year. Softbank’s investment has increased Greensill’s valuation to about $3.5billion- a double of its previous valuation. The investment came at an important time for Greensill, which has recently been involved in a scandal relating to one of its largest shareholders, Greensill Asset Management. This scandal has caused Greensill a decrease in its assets under management by more than half. Softbank’s large bet on Greensill, despite its recent troubles, is a sign of its confidence in the role that Fintech companies will play in supply chain finance, and the financial services industry more broadly, in the coming years. [B]Impact on businesses and law firms:[/B] Softbank’s investment in Greensill is yet another indicator that institutional investors and large banks are becoming increasingly aware of the value that Fintech companies can add to financial services. Also last week, Wells Fargo and Barclays provided a $17million in funding to OpenFin, a financial services software start-up backed by J.P. Morgan Chase. As investment from institutional investors and big banks increases, start-ups providing financial services will continue to increase their customer base and consolidate their position in the industry as well. Given that many of these companies are introducing new technologies to the industry that disrupts old customer-service provider relationships, it will be interesting to see how they will be regulated, interact, and compete with traditional industry players. [B][U]2. Amazon’s investment in Deliveroo @AliceG[/U][/B] [B]The story:[/B] Last week, Amazon has led the latest $575 million funding round in Deliveroo. This marks the food delivery service’s eighth round of funding. Deliveroo’s founder, Will Shu, has expressed his excitement at working with Amazon who he had said is a ‘customer-obsessed organisation’. Mr Shu has said that he aims to invest the funds into better technology for Deliveroo and to further expand the international footprint of the company. [B]Impact on businesses and law firms: [/B] In terms of the impact on Deliveroo itself, some riders have expressed some preliminary concerns about the potential influence of Amazon. Because the ‘trillion-dollar club’ business is so customer focused, as Mr Shu was quick to note, there are fears that riders may be fitted with timers or that riders might incur penalties for late deliveries to better the customer experience. One of the positives often espoused about the gig economy is the freedom that comes with it, but these measures would undoubtedly lead to such freedoms being curtailed. Not necessarily bad for customers of course, but for the inherent business model of Deliveroo this could be problematic for their riders and maybe the business as a whole. Naturally, this investment round has led to a little bit of trouble for the stock prices of major rivals. JustEat suffered a share drop of 8% on Friday 17THand Uber’s already problematic IPO has not been bettered by this news either. This might mean that prices become even more competitive for consumers as these rivals vie for business. From more of a legal and regulatory standpoint, Tom Watson MP was very quick to call upon the UK’s competition watchdog to investigate what he perceives to be Amazon’s further attempt to capture more customer data through this particular investment. Big data and the ways and means companies go about harnessing data for their own ends has been a hot topic of late, especially in terms of advertising and product development. Foucault is infamous for his proclamation ‘knowledge is power’ and never has that seemed more pertinent to this particular issue. Indeed, in years to come it will be the job of regulators and lawyers to protect our data and to legislate where the lines ought to be drawn upon such matters. Competition lawyers will be busy trying to ensure that we as consumers are protected and that business practices are fair, whilst also ensuring that innovation is not stifled. [/QUOTE]
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