BusinessWeek, Ape 30, 2018 (I)

choi

(1) Chris Reiter, Europe's Magic Bus Is California Dreaming.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/a ... s-coming-to-america

Quote:

"Since introducing a handful of routes in Bavaria when Germany liberalized its long-distance bus market five years ago, Flix has become Europe's biggest network * * * Flix has stayed out of the messy and capital-intensive business of owning and operating buses, instead adopting a model akin to that of Uber Technologies Inc. The company leaves the driving to 300 partners—mostly small, family-owned companies that keep 75 percent of ticket receipts—allowing Flix to focus on scheduling, customer service, and online ticket sales. * * * [Flix owners] aim to replicate their model in the US, with plans to roll out across the Southwest this summer, linking destinations such as Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Phoenix.

"In taking on the [American] market, Flix follows Britain's Stagecoach Group Plc, which in 2006 introduced its Megabus brand in the US. After an initial splash, Megabus retrenched as low fuel prices made driving a cheaper alternative. 'This isn't our first rodeo,' says Andy Kaplinsky, chief commercial officer at Greyhound. 'The chatter and buzz of an upstart helps build awareness.' Greyhound, owned by British bus operator FirstGroup Plc since 2007, introduced its own hipper, bargain alternative, BoltBus, in 2008, and it has since added Wi-Fi and electric outlets on all its buses.

Note:
(a) summary underneath the title in print: Germany's FlixBus has become Europe's biggest network. Now it's aiming for the US
(b) The online version and print are the same. There is no need to read the rest, though.
(c) This Ain't My First Rodeo. Grammarist.com, undated
http://grammarist.com/idiom/this-aint-my-first-rodeo/
("This ain't my first rodeo is an idiom that gained wider usage in the early 1980s. * * * This ain't my first rodeo means I am not a novice to this situation * * * The idiom this ain't my first rodeo is mostly used in instances where a less experienced person is trying to give advice to a more experienced person, and is meant to establish superiority. * * * The idiom this ain't my first rodeo is generally traced back to the [1981] movie Mommie Dearest, in which the character Joan Crawford says, 'This ain't my first time at the rodeo' ")

Mommie Dearest
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mommie_Dearest
(a 1978 memoir)
(d)
(i) Stagecoach Group
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stagecoach_Group
(1980- ; based in Perth, Scotland)
(ii) FirstGroup
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FirstGroup
(formed in 1995 through merger; based in Aberdeen, Scotland)

choi

(2) China Wants to Give You a Lift.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/f ... next-era-of-driving

Note:
(a) summary underneath the title in print: It's determined to break the hold the US, Germany, and Japan have on the global automotive industry
(b) The online version and print are 90% the same.
(c) All quotations are from the print.
(i) "At least four established Chinese carmakers  -- including Geely -- and three Chinese-owned startups -- SF Motors [2016- ; a subsidiary of Chongqing Sokon Industry Group 重庆小康工业集团股份有限公司; based in Santa Clara, Calif; making EVs], NIO [2014- ; based in Shanghai] and Byton 拜腾 [based in Nanjing; EVs] -- plan to sell cars in the US starting next year. * * * and Beijing-based TuSimple 北京图森未来科技有限公司 [2015- ] is testing autonomous-driving big riin Arizona."
(ii) "China has made a similar move before. It used the shift in technology from basic flip phones to hand-sized computers to dominate the manufacturing industry, trouncing then-dominant makers from Finland [Nokia], Sweden, the US [none], Japan and Germany. Last year, three of the top five smartphone handset makers in the world were Chinese"
(iii) "The Chinese government's foal to deploy 30 million autonomous vehicles within a decade is seeding a fledgling chip industry, with startups such as Horizon Robotics Inc 地平线 [based in Beijing] emerging to build the brains behind those wheels. And ['Ningde-based' 福建省宁德市] Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd 新能源科技有限公司 (CATL), the maker of electric-vehicle batteries"
(iv) "Says Hu Xingdou, an economics professor at the Beijing Institute of Technology [on manufacturing EVs]: 'China and the rest of the world can now start from the same starting line.' "

北京理工大学胡星斗

choi

(3) Gillian Tan and Sarah Mulholland with Amanda L Gordon, China's Real Estate connection.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/a ... l-estate-connection

Quote:

"Although it may be more commonly thought of as a private equity firm, Blackstone has $120 billion in real estate assets under management. Jon Gray, Schwarzman's second in command and designated successor, rose within the company by building up that business. As a seller, Blackstone spent much of the past few years feeding a hunger from Chinese buyers that proved insatiable—until now ['Chinese authorities have moved to curb and unwind overseas investments by homegrown dealmakers'].

"Anbang bought from Blackstone New York's Waldorf Astoria for $1.95 billion, a record-breaker that thrust the financial conglomerate into the spotlight in the US * * * Blackstone sold a stake in a Hong Kong property developer to HNA and a Sydney office tower to Wanda. Data from Real Capital Analytics Inc show that Blackstone has been by far the largest seller to Chinese companies, reaping $25.3 billion from 708 properties since 2013, with a single deal accounting for more than 600 of them. The figure would jump to $31.8 billion were it to include HNA's purchase of part of Blackstone's stake in Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc in 2016. That's almost triple the volume of any other seller to Chinese buyers over the same period, and roughly a fifth of Blackstone's real estate sales in that time.

"But with $32 billion in so-called dry powder earmarked for new real estate investments, Blackstone could be positioned to grab back some of its favorite assets, if the price is right. Beyond valuations, a key factor that might weigh on Blackstone is perception. Is it going to be viewed as saving these companies or humiliating them? If it's the latter, which could tarnish the firm's reputation among potential buyers or sellers"

Note:
(a) summary underneath the title in print: Schwarzman's Blackstone has been a big seller to Chinese companies. Will it want to buy anything back?
(b) The online version and print are the same.
(c) In finance, "dry powder" is an informal term for "cash reserve." For its etymology, see Keep Your Powder Dry
https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/217500.html

, where dry powder is ready to use.
(d) There is a photo in print, but I suspect it is a fake -- because Blackstone does not do retailing.
(i) There is no URL for the photo, so I can not upload it. What you can do is search images.google.com with (Gillian Tan and Sarah Mulholland with Amanda L Gordon, China's Real Estate connection) -- no quotation marks. The first photo is it.
(ii)
給Steve Schwarzman打电话!
最有能力的房地产经纪人 Blackstone