In terms of the pandemic, (with the notable exception of China), things are generally looking optimistic now, but a widely anticipated global economic slowdown or even recession, is looming over most economies.

Bizzabo cuts one third of its staff

Event tech appears to be a quite uncomfortable place to be right now. Bizzabo has raised nearly US$200 million to date, but that apparently was not enough. This follows Hopin’s announcement in February that 12% of its staff would be cut.

Temasek expects things to get ugly

The giant Singaporean sovereign wealth fund expects its investment activity to slow as the global economic outlook worsens. Temasek is one of the top 10 investors worldwide with 63% of its investments in Asia. Temasek also owns Constellar, a Singapore-based event organiser and venue owner.

Las Vegas Sands lends US$1b to Macau

Sands China, a subsidiary of Las Vegas Sands (LVS), has announced that it has entered into a loan agreement with its parent company following the recent COVID lockdown in Macau. The US$1 billion loan will be repayable on 11th July 2028.

Japan gets nervous about COVID… again

Japan warned that a new wave of coronavirus infections appeared to be spreading rapidly and urged people to take special care. Tokyo reported 16,878 new cases on Wednesday – the highest daily total since February.

Alibaba gets fined and Tsai quits a board

Alibaba is in trouble with regulators once again. The e-commerce giant has been fined for five violations of China’s anti-monopoly law running back to 2011. At the same time, and perhaps not unrelated, the Alibaba Group’s vice-chairman, Joe Tsai, has quit the board of its sports subsidiary Alibaba Sports.