Volkswagen plans to invest EUR 2.4 bn to secure Chinese chip tech, the Financial Times reports. The German carmaker, which earns around half its net income in China, will take a 60% stake in a JV with Chinese firm Horizon Robotics as it pushes into AI-assisted and driverless cars as a way to maintain its lucrative market share in the country. The move is “likely to curry favor with the Chinese government,” one Beijing-based consultant told the salmon-colored paper, at a time of heightened tensions between Beiijing and the US over new chip export restrictions by the Biden administration.

And Samsung gets a one-year exemption from US chip restrictions: The South Korean tech giant has reportedly been authorized to continue receiving the chip-making equipment needed to maintain its production lines in China, the Wall Street Journal reports.

ALSO- Saudi IPOs roll on: Riyadh Cables is mulling a USD c.400 mn debut on Tadawul this year. (Bloomberg)

ALSO FROM PLANET FINANCE-

• A Fox-News Corp merger on the table? Rupert Murdoch is looking into merging his media companies Fox Corporation and News Corp. (Statement)
• India’s car-sharing platform Zoomcar is expected to debut on the Nasdaq via a SPAC transaction that could value the company at USD 456 mn. The company launched its Egypt branch in October 2021. (Bloomberg)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 rose 0.5% at Thursday’s close on turnover of EGP 1.01 bn (2.9% above the 90-day average). Foreign investors were net sellers. The index is down 17.5% YTD.

In the green: Cleopatra Hospitals (+4.4%), Elsewedy Electric (+3.4%) and Madinet Nasr Housing (+2.0%).

In the red: GB Auto (-2.4%), Orascom Construction (-2.3%) and Rameda Pharma (-1.1%).