Tata Steel UK faces carbon transition challenge; 3One4 Capital raises $200 mln for a fourth fund

Tata Steel has warned that its UK business faces “material uncertainty” due to market conditions and the level of government support, BBC reports. That support is related to the need for the company’s steel factories to transition to newer technologies and processes that will result in lowering carbon emissions from the plants. Bengaluru VC firm 3One4 Capital has raised $200 million for its fourth fund, TechCrunch reports. The company has garnered half the commitment from local investors, according to the report. Notes: Tata Steel's UK business faces "material uncertainty" due to market conditions and the level of government support needed for decarbonisation, according to a stress test carried out on the European arm of the company, the BBC reports. Tata Steel UK, which employs approximately 8,000 people, expects trading to improve later this year. Reports suggest Tata Steel could receive £300m ($405m) in support but decarbonising the Port Talbot plant is estimated to cost up to £3bn. The UK government says it is providing support to protect the steel industry from "unfair trade and energy costs". Westinghouse has launched a smaller version of its AP1000 nuclear reactor, called AP300, which will generate around 300MW, enough to power 300,000 homes, CNBC reports. The move comes as the nuclear industry looks to remake itself as a means of addressing climate change. The electricity produced by nuclear fission reactors generates no greenhouse gas emissions, and smaller nuclear reactors are less expensive to build. The AP300 will cost around $1bn per unit, compared with around $6.8bn for an AP1000. The UK's Nuclear Regulatory Commission will need to give its approval before the AP300 becomes available to customers by the end of 2027. The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is investigating Adobe's $20bn acquisition of Figma to determine if it will lessen competition in the country, Reuters reports. The move comes after the CMA blocked Microsoft's $69bn acquisition of Activision Blizzard over concerns that it would hinder cloud gaming. Adobe has said it looks forward to continuing to engage with the CMA, US Department of Justice, and European Commission in productive discussions about the deal. Figma has stated it will continue to engage constructively with regulators in the UK. US chipmaker Broadcom's CEO, Hock Tan, has met European Union antitrust regulators to convince them that his company's proposed $61bn acquisition of VMware will not hinder competition, according to Reuters. The deal has raised concerns on both sides of the Atlantic, with the EU warning it could limit competition in certain hardware component markets. Broadcom was expected to offer remedies soon after the hearing, and the EU's decision deadline is 21 June, which will be extended if concessions are submitted. Bengaluru-based venture capital firm 3one4 Capital has raised $200m in just two and a half months for its fourth fund, which was oversubscribed to $250m, TechCrunch reports. The firm has gained a reputation for its contrarian approach to investing and has steered clear of cryptocurrency. The new fund saw half its capital come from Indian investors. Co-founder and partner Pranav Pai told TechCrunch the VC firm is hoping for more dedicated funds to be launched for Indian startups and also emphasised the need for a more robust mergers and acquisitions landscape.