News in Brief
Meta exploring plans for Twitter rival
REUTERS – Meta Platforms Inc is exploring plans to launch a new social media app in its bid to displace Twitter as the world's "digital town square".
Meta's app will be based on a decentralized framework like Mastodon, a Twitter-like service that was launched in 2016 and now has about 2 million monthly active users. It was not immediately clear when Meta would roll out the new app.
Meta's monthly active users for its family of apps grew 4.2% in the December 2022 quarter, compared with 8.8% growth a year earlier.
GoTo to cut 600 more jobs
BLOOMBERG – Indonesia’s GoTo Group is reducing 600 more jobs, accelerating its cuts in Southeast Asia as growth in the region’s internet markets slows.
The reductions are part of a shake-up that will include a merging of certain units and a winddown of parts of the Mitra Tokopedia business, which works with small vendors in Indonesia, GoTo said in a statement Friday.
GoTo and regional peers Grab Holdings Ltd. and Sea Ltd. are trying to convince investors of their long-term prospects in the face of a possible recession.
Chip equipment maker ASMPT draws takeover interest
BLOOMBERG – ASMPT, a semiconductor and electronics equipment maker, is attracting takeover interest from private equity firms, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Alternative investment firm PAG is among those that have expressed interest in taking the Hong Kong-listed company private, said sources.