Krypton Evening Post | Dingdong Maicai initiates overseas expansion: The first stop is selected as Saudi Arabia, and new international management trainee positions are added in the campus recruitment; Haidilao enters the grilled skewer track, and the first store of its sub-brand Flame Official lands in Wuxi; It is reported that BNP Paribas cuts 10% of investment banking positions in China.
Big Companies:
On November 12, it was reported that The Walt Disney Company is looking for a successor for CEO Iger, and it is said that the candidate pool has been expanded to include outsiders. Insiders said that in recent months, the candidates mentioned in Disney's discussions include Andrew Wilson, the CEO of the game company Electronic Arts. It is revealed that Disney is working with the headhunting firm Heidrick & Struggles to help it evaluate external candidates, and at least two other potential external candidates have been identified. Disney said last month that it plans to appoint Iger's successor in early 2026, later than the original plan.
Audi spokesperson said on November 12 local time that after a potential investor from the commercial vehicle field withdrew the offer, the company has stopped looking for a buyer for its Brussels factory in Belgium. Audi plans to end the consultation process with labor representatives on the future of the factory site within this month in order to provide more clear information to employees. Audi said in July this year that it is considering restructuring the Brussels factory. Since the beginning of September, the factory has been in a state of suspension.
Dingdong Maicai has officially initiated overseas expansion, and the first stop is selected as Saudi Arabia in the Middle East. An insider from Dingdong Maicai said that Dingdong Maicai's overseas model is mainly to sell pre-made dishes to local customers, and there will also be fresh produce, refrigerated items, general merchandise and other categories. Another source revealed that this year, the management of Dingdong Maicai once held a management meeting in Saudi Arabia. Currently, Dingdong Maicai is forming a local team in Saudi Arabia. In multiple recruitment channels at home and abroad, Dingdong Maicai is recruiting positions related to products, operations, customer service, purchasing and sales, government relations, etc. Some positions are located in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, and require applicants to be proficient in English and Arabic.
36Kr learned that recently, Flame Official BarBecue, a food and lifestyle brand that integrates barbecue, alcoholic beverages, and socializing under Haidilao, has landed in Wuxi. Flame Official BarBecue is Haidilao's first barbecue brand. It is understood that in August this year, Haidilao announced the implementation of the "Red Pomegranate Plan", aiming to encourage the incubation and development of more new catering brands. Currently, Haidilao has incubated several sub-brands in multiple tracks such as Yanqing Barbecue Shop, Xiaohi Loves Fried Food, Xiaohi Hotpot, and Miao Shixiong Spicy Pot.
Wu Xinxin, Vice President of NetEase Games Marketing, has shown as resigned in the NetEase internal system. A few days earlier, Zhang Haixing, General Manager of NetEase Games Marketing, has also shown as resigned. So far, all the personnel mentioned in the relevant screenshots of the NetEase corruption incident that circulated online on November 7 have resigned. It is understood that currently, many marketing line employees of NetEase are still under investigation.
Tencent: The activity of Video Account and Mini Program in the third quarter has steadily increased
36Kr learned that Tencent released its third-quarter financial report for 2024. The financial report shows that the combined monthly active accounts of WeChat and WeChat has further increased to 1.382 billion. New products such as Video Account, WeChat Search, Mini Program, and AI large model are constantly updated, promoting the ecological development. In this quarter, the Video Account Store has been upgraded to WeChat Store, and Tencent has upgraded the trading platform strategy around WeChat Store, aiming to create a unified and reliable trading experience relying on the entire WeChat ecosystem. The Mini Program trading ecosystem is active, with the transaction volume exceeding two trillion in the quarter, covering multiple online and offline service scenarios such as catering and retail, transportation, and people's livelihood payments, with a year-on-year growth of more than ten percentage points. In addition, WeChat Search has achieved year-on-year growth in both commercial search volume and click-through rate.
It is reported that Tongyi has submitted a labor dispute arbitration application to sue former employee Zhou Chang for violating the non-compete agreement. Zhou Chang will face a huge claim from Tongyi. Public information shows that Zhou Chang joined Alibaba in July 2017. In July this year, Zhou Chang resigned on the grounds of starting a business and signed a non-compete agreement. Just when the industry was speculating about Zhou Chang's entrepreneurial progress, multiple sources on social media recently showed that Zhou Chang joined ByteDance in August to engage in AI large model-related work, with a high position and salary.
BNP Paribas is said to cut 10% of its investment banking positions in China
It is reported that informed sources said that BNP Paribas has carried out the first round of layoffs in its Chinese investment banking business since its expansion two years ago, laying off about 10 people in the context of a sluggish trading market. BNP Paribas laid off 7 employees in the fields of investment banking, corporate finance, and equity capital markets in Hong Kong and 3 employees in the mainland China office last week. It is said that about 10% of BNP Paribas' China-related employees are affected. A managing director in charge of IPOs is also on the layoff list.
Tesla announces a new milestone: Producing 1,000 Powerwall units in one day
On Tuesday local time, Tesla's Gigafactory in Nevada, USA, produced 1,000 Powerwall energy storage devices in one day, marking a new milestone for the company. Powerwall is a powerful home battery that can store solar energy for use in case of a power outage. The company previously said it has the capacity to produce one Powerwall 3 - the latest version of the product - every 25 seconds, or more than 700,000 units per year.
Boeing delivered 14 aircraft in October, the lowest since November 2020
Boeing disclosed on November 12 local time that it delivered 14 aircraft in October, the lowest since November 2020, compared with 34 deliveries in the same month last year.
New Products:
Xiaomi secretly plans AI glasses, expected to be released in Q2 next year
36Kr exclusively learned that Xiaomi is planning to launch a new generation of AI glasses. It has cooperated with Goertek several months ago, and the product is expected to be released in Q2 2025. For the shipment volume of this product, Lei Jun's expectation is "more than 300,000 units". It is understood that Xiaomi AI glasses will "fully benchmark against Meta Ray-ban", equipped with AI functions, audio headphone modules, camera modules, and will be released in Xiaomi's own brand.
DingTalk launches AI assistants for six major scenarios such as work orders
36Kr learned that on November 13, DingTalk ushered in a significant upgrade: AI goes deep into business scenarios. DingTalk launched the "Selected AI Assistants" for key enterprise scenarios. The first batch of six AI assistants including Work Order Assistant, Excel Assistant, and Legal Assistant has been launched. At the same time, DingTalk jointly with ecological partners released industry AI solutions, covering manufacturing, healthcare, retail, education and other industries.
Investment and Financing:
European takeaway giant sells its US subsidiary Grubhub for $650 million
Just Eat Takeaway, the largest European takeaway company, announced on November 13 local time that it has reached an agreement to sell its US subsidiary Grubhub to Wonder for $650 million. Wonder is a food delivery startup founded by Marc Lore, the former e-commerce head of Walmart in 2018.
Temasek Trust Fund invests $50 million in Japanese solar company Tekoma Energy
It is reported that ABC Impact, the impact investment company under Temasek Trust Fund, will invest $50 million to acquire shares in Japanese solar company Tekoma Energy. ABC Impact and a HSBC spokesperson confirmed the news.
"Huayu Xianxiang" completes Angel++ round of financing
36Kr learned that "Huayu Xianxiang" announced that it completed the Angel+ round and Angel++ round of financing totaling nearly 100 million yuan in October and November. Before this, Huayu Xianxiang completed an Angel round of financing of several million yuan in January 2024, led by Hunan General Aviation Fund, with Changsha Xiangjiang General Aviation Development Co., Ltd. and Shanghai Jinbang Capital as co-investors.
Seven & I considers a $58 billion management buyout
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It is reported that Seven & I, the parent company of 7-Eleven, is considering a $58 billion MBO (Management Buyout) if the acquisition of Seven & I by Canadian convenience store retail giant COUCHE-TARD becomes aggressive.
Today's Views:
Zeng Yuqun: If Trump "gives the green light", CATL will consider building a factory in the US
It is reported that on November 12 local time, Zeng Yuqun, Chairman and CEO of CATL, said in an interview that if the elected US President Trump opens the door to Chinese enterprises' investment in the US electric vehicle supply chain, CATL will consider building a factory in the US. Zeng Yuqun said that initially when the company wanted to invest in the US, the US government refused. But he has always maintained an open attitude and hopes that the US will open the door to investment in the future. Trump said in an interview in August: "We will provide incentives. If China and other countries want to come here (the US) to sell cars, they will build factories here and hire our workers."
Other News Worth Noting:
36Kr learned that according to the State Taxation Administration, since the implementation of the policy of a series of measures to facilitate taxpayers' cross-regional migration on September 1, 2024, until October 31, a total of 4,610 taxpayers have carried out cross-provincial migrations nationwide, with a year-on-year growth of 30.04%. The average processing time for tax-related businesses has been compressed by 5 to 10 days, and eligible enterprises can be smoothly relocated on the same day. The relevant person in charge of the State Taxation Administration said that in the next step, the tax department will continue to optimize the pre-warning, refine the scenario settings, strengthen the intelligent prevention and control, and refine the process management to further improve the convenience of the circulation of business entities and create a good tax environment for the construction of a national unified large market.