Krypton Evening News | Pershing Square plans to acquire Universal Music Group for €9.4 billion in cash and stock; Goldman Sachs strategist: The current valuation of tech stocks presents investment opportunities; The People's Bank of China has increased its gold holdings for the 17th consecutive month.
Large Companies:
On April 6, some media reported that Foxconn was trial-producing Apple's first foldable phone. In response, on April 7, an insider from Apple's supply chain told reporters that the project plan for Apple's first foldable phone had already been determined. Currently, the project is progressing normally. Trial production is a necessary stage before the official mass-production of the product. Generally, it needs to go through engineering verification, design verification, production trial-production verification, and finally reach official mass-production. According to the normal progress plan, the product will be released this autumn. (Securities Times)
MINISO: It is expected to open 200 "Theme Park Series" stores by the end of 2026
36Kr learned that as of April 7, MINISO had opened 65 "Theme Park Series" stores globally, covering core store formats such as MINISO SPACE, MINISO FRIENDS, MINISO LAND, and SUPER MINISO. MINISO said that the average performance of this series of stores had increased by more than 900% compared with regular stores, and it was expected to reach 200 stores by the end of 2026.
Pershing Square plans to acquire Universal Music Group for 9.4 billion euros in cash and stock
Pershing Square, owned by billionaire investor Bill Ackman, announced on April 6 local time that it planned to acquire Universal Music Group for 9.4 billion euros in cash and stock and had submitted a non-binding proposal. The total consideration of cash and stock is expected to be worth 30.40 euros per share, a 78% premium to Universal Music Group's share price. (Jiemian)
36Kr learned that Leader Intelligent Manufacturing said on the interactive platform that the company had supplied foldable terminal hardware to leading domestic and foreign customers. Its core products cover folding screen support parts and middle frames made of materials such as stainless steel/titanium alloy/carbon fiber, VC heat spreaders made of materials such as copper/stainless steel/copper-steel composite/aluminum alloy/titanium, folding screen hinge modules, die-cut functional parts/structural parts, chargers and other key components. Currently, all kinds of foldable screen projects of the company are progressing smoothly, and it is promoting mass-production ramp-up and customer delivery as planned.
On April 7, a rumor about Hikvision spread rapidly on social platforms. The online pictures showed that there was a vulnerability in Hikvision's monitoring system and more than 300 people at the headquarters were taken away for investigation. In response to this rumor, a reporter called Hikvision as an investor. The staff member on the phone clearly stated that the above-mentioned rumor was false and the company did not have such a situation, and emphasized "Don't believe or spread rumors". According to the personal knowledge of this staff member, the company currently has no relevant business in Iran. (21st Century Business Herald)
Investment and Financing:
"Shouxing Technology" obtains a new round of hundreds of millions of yuan in Series A1 financing
36Kr learned that "Shouxing Technology", an enterprise of ultra-high bionic emotional interaction robots, announced the completion of a Series A1 financing of hundreds of millions of yuan. This round was jointly led by Huakong Fund and a certain Internet giant. Jiayu Capital, Pengrui Fund, Yizhuang State-owned Investment, Shanghai Semiconductor Industry Investment, Nanshan Strategic Emerging Industry Investment, as well as old shareholders China Merchants Venture Capital, Shunwei Capital, Honghui Fund, Houxue Capital, and Orient Fortune Capital followed the investment. The funds from this round will be mainly used for the continuous iterative upgrading of the multi-modal embodied interaction system and the emotional base model, the large-scale optimization of the bionic facial core components and material system, as well as the standardized delivery and global market expansion.
"Yunpeng Technology" completes Series A+ financing
Recently, Zhejiang Yunpeng Technology Co., Ltd. announced that it had completed Series A+ financing. This financing was jointly invested by Asia-Infrastructure Investment Ruicai (Taizhou Luqiao) Venture Capital Partnership (Limited Partnership) and Jinhua Jinwu Empowerment Equity Investment Partnership (Limited Partnership). Yunpeng Technology takes "AI empowering healthy life, digital intelligence leading the future of the industry" as its core, and creates a full-scenario solution centered on "dietary nutrition and health". The continuous increase of capital in the capital market has injected strong impetus into Yunpeng Technology's layout of the new track of AI + health industry and the expansion of its business boundaries.
New Products:
Google releases AI mental health support update
Google announced on April 7 that it would improve mental health support through AI: Gemini added a "Help-seeking Module" to provide one-click connection to hotlines when a crisis is identified; Google.org invested 30 million US dollars to fund global hotlines and used an AI simulation platform to train volunteers; at the same time, it strengthened the emotional isolation protection for minors to ensure that AI assists rather than replaces professional diagnosis and treatment. (Jiemian)
Today's Views:
Goldman Sachs strategist: Current valuations of technology stocks present investment opportunities
Goldman Sachs strategists recently pointed out that the relative slump in the technology sector "is starting to generate attractive valuation opportunities". The Goldman Sachs team led by Peter Oppenheimer said that concerns triggered by capital expenditures in ultra-large-scale data centers had led to the valuation of technology stocks being lower than the overall valuation of the global market relative to expected earnings growth. The team pointed out that the price-earnings ratio of technology stocks was lower than that of non-essential consumer goods, essential consumer goods, and industrial sectors, but its growth rate remained strong. They believed that the industry was not in a bubble, and its valuation was "below the typical level at previous peaks". The war in Iran has made the industry more attractive because the cash flows of technology companies are less sensitive to economic growth. (Caixin)
Other Notable News:
36Kr learned that since the adjustment of domestic refined oil prices on March 23, the international crude oil price has fluctuated significantly. To mitigate the impact of rising international oil prices on the domestic market, the country continued to take regulatory measures on refined oil prices. Calculated according to the refined oil price mechanism, starting from 24:00 on April 7, the prices of domestic gasoline and diesel (standard products) should be increased by 800 yuan and 770 yuan per ton respectively. After regulation, they were actually increased by 420 yuan and 400 yuan.
China's polar ice drilling breaks the international record for the deepest hot-water drilling
Reporters learned from the Ministry of Natural Resources on April 7 that the 42nd Chinese Antarctic Expedition successfully completed China's first Antarctic ice hot-water drilling test, with a drilling depth of 3413 meters, breaking the previous international record of 2540 meters for polar hot-water drilling. (CCTV News)
PBOC increases gold holdings for the 17th consecutive month
36Kr learned that data from the People's Bank of China showed that China's gold reserves at the end of March stood at 74.38 million ounces, up from 74.22 million ounces at the end of February, marking the 17th consecutive month of increasing gold holdings.
Bank of France sells all gold bars held in the US
The Bank of France recently disclosed a special project, in which it sold its gold reserves held in the United States and then bought back the corresponding weight of gold in Europe. This move ensured that the bank's gold reserves at the beginning of 2026 were the same as those at the beginning of 2025, but also generated considerable foreign exchange earnings due to the price difference between buying and selling. The transaction involved 129 tons of non-standard gold bars, accounting for 5% of the Bank of France's gold bar reserves. Currently, the bank has concentrated all its gold reserves in the Paris vault. The governor of the Bank of France emphasized that the decision to keep the gold bars in Paris rather than New York was not politically motivated. (Caixin)
China's advertising industry revenue exceeds 2 trillion yuan for the first time last year
Data released by the State Administration for Market Regulation today (the 7th) showed that in 2025, the advertising business revenue of national public institutions and large-scale enterprises exceeded 2 trillion yuan for the first time, reaching 2.05021 trillion yuan, doubling the revenue scale in 2020, with an average annual growth rate of 16.8%. (CCTV News)
Japan's real household consumption declines year-on-year for the third consecutive month
Survey results released by Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications on April 7 showed that due to persistent high inflation squeezing people's real disposable income, Japan's real household consumption expenditure declined year-on-year for the third consecutive month in February this year. Data showed that the average monthly consumption expenditure of households with two or more people in Japan in February was 289,400 yen (about 1 US dollar equals 159 yen), a 0.4% decrease compared with the same period last year. After deducting price factors, it actually decreased by 1.8% year-on-year. Real household consumption has declined year-on-year for three consecutive months since December last year. (Xinhua News Agency)