JULYASIA BUSINESS OUTLOOK9Google has taken a stake in Taiwan's New Green Power (NGP) and has the option to purchase up to 300 megawatts of renewable energy from the BlackRock fund-owned company. This initiative is part of Google's efforts to reduce its a and those of its suppliers.Amid increasing pressure from investors to cut greenhouse gas emissions, tech companies have been setting ambitious targets. Google's goal is to operate entirely on carbon-free energy. However, the rising demand for data-processing capacity, especially for artificial intelligence, has led to an increase in emissions.Taiwan, a key location for Google's cloud technology operations with a data center and offices, generates nearly 85 percent of its power from fossil fuels, according to Amanda Peterson Corio, Google's Global Head of Data Center Energy. The investment in NGP aims to support the development of a large-scale solar energy infrastructure in Taiwan.Decarbonizing regions like Asia Pacific poses challenges due to less developed infrastructure and restrictions on corporate green power purchases. NGP, owned by a BlackRock Climate Infrastructure-managed fund, is a leading solar developer and operator in Taiwan, stated David Giordano, BlackRock's Global Head of Climate Infrastructure.Google and BlackRock did not disclose the size of the equity stake in NGP. However, Corio mentioned that the investment is expected to facilitate equity and debt financing for NGP's 1-gigawatt solar energy pipeline. Taiwan aims to reach 20 gigawatts of solar capacity by 2025 and up to 80 gigawatts by 2050. Four companies, spanning industries from U.S. jet manufacturing to Chinese generative AI, initiated initial public offerings (IPOs) in Hong Kong on Friday, aiming to collectively raise up to $500 million, according to their regulatory filings. Cirrus Aircraft, a Minnesota-based small jet manufacturer, seeks to raise up to $197 million by offering 54.87 million shares priced between HK$27.34 and HK$28 per share. If priced at the top end, this IPO will value Cirrus at $1.3 billion, with cornerstone investors already committing to approximately $109 million worth of shares.Chenqi Technology, a ride-hailing app, is offering 30 million shares priced between HK$34 and HK$45.40 per share, targeting a raise of up to $174 million.Shanghai Voicecomm, an AI firm, plans to raise $85 million through the sale of 4.36 million shares at a fixed price of HK$152.10 per share.Baiwang, a financial data analytics company backed by Alibaba, is looking to raise nearly $50 million by selling 9.62 million shares priced between HK$36 and HK$40 each.This wave of IPOs comes despite a decline in the value of new share sales in Hong Kong, which fell from $2.12 billion in the first half of 2023 to $1.46 billion in the first half of 2024, according to LSEG data. Nevertheless, bankers remain optimistic that increased regulatory approvals in China and a rise in Indian deals will position Asia as a key equity capital market hub in the latter half of 2024. GOOGLE ACQUIRES STAKE IN TAIWAN'S NGP TO REDUCE CARBON EMISSIONSFOUR COMPANIES LAUNCH IPOS WORTH $500M IN HONG KONGNEWSROOM
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