Aroundtheworld

Stake in European utility

State-owned China Southern Power Grid has agreed to buy a minority stake in European utility Encevo. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Private equity firm Ardian said that it had agreed to sell its minority stake in Encevo to China Southern Power Grid.

Ardian said it held a public process to dispose of its stake in Encevo and all stakeholders were informed, including governments in Luxembourg, which holds a stake in Encevo, and in Germany, and none opposed the sale.

The private equity fund received firm bids from five companies, three utilities and two funds and the offer made by China Southern Grid was the most attractive.

Investment in UK start-up

Internet technology company NetEase announced plans to invest $50 million in new shares in UKbased technology company Improbable, along with the purchase of some existing shares, taking a small stake in the company.

“This investment represents a strategic investment in the potential of Improbable's SpatialOS technology by NetEase, and will strengthen our competitiveness in supplying ground-breaking game development technology for game makers to the Asia market,” the UK-based company said in a statement.

The company's most recent previous funding was a $502 million Series B round of funding led by SoftBank in May 2017.