The five-star Lai Lai Sheraton Hotel (來來飯店), one of Taipei's best- known downtown landmarks, will soon be in new hands.
An official at the Tourism Bureau under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday confirmed that Tsai Chen-yang (
"After reviewing its new management proposal and financial portfolio, the bureau will give its approval for the transfer of managerial rights to Tsai's group within the next two days," said the official, who requested anonymity.
The official added that, before long, Tsai's group will be fully authorized to run the hotel after obtaining a new business license from the economics ministry.
Ironically, Tsai's elder brother, Tsai Chen-nan (
Tsai Chen-yang, then vice chairman of Lai Lai Department Store, quit his post and later started an antique and restaurant business.
However, Tsai's family business group -- the Cathay Life Insurance Co (
Lai Lai is expected to officially make the hand-over announcement early next week, general manager Josef Dolp said yesterday.
But Dolp claimed no knowledge that the takeover deal will cost Tsai somewhere between NT$ 600 million to NT$700 million as the media reported.
Yesterday Dolp claimed that the hotel's daily operations will not be affected by the management change.
He also assured the hotel's 1,050 staff that there will be no layoffs and the hotel will undergo a facelift after the new management team comes in.
"Our staff already understood that the first intention of our chairman was to provide them with a future. And this will happen no matter who will be the new owner. The future is provided for in the long term," Dolp said.
Local media speculated that Chang's Hong Shee Group currently suffers from a severe cash crunch since the hotel lost more than NT$100 million in revenues last year and owed landlord Cathay Life over NT$250 million in rentals.
Shrugging off media speculation, Dolp only cited Chang as raising concern over the rising rent.
"The rent for the property is very high. It was over 30 percent of our total revenues," Dolp said, adding that worldwide average rental should range between 17 to 22 percent of revenue.
In response, Lee Chang-ken (
Lee said that Cathay Life looks at a stable rental income and will welcome any new owner who is competent and has a good image.
When asked if the rent will be lowered for Tsai, Lee did not give a clear answer but said a new lease may be re-signed pending on the negotiated deal between Chang and Tsai.
The current lease will end in 2005.
Claiming its over-due rental payments, Cathay Life won a lawsuit against Chang last December. Cathay Life could have claimed Hong Shee was bankrupt after winning the trial, but both has reached a settlement in mid February according to Lee.
Real estate agent and property developer JSL Construction & Development Co (愛山林) led the average compensation rankings among companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) last year, while contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) finished 14th. JSL Construction paid its employees total average compensation of NT$4.78 million (US$159,701), down 13.5 percent from a year earlier, but still ahead of the most profitable listed tech giants, including TSMC, TWSE data showed. Last year, the average compensation (which includes salary, overtime, bonuses and allowances) paid by TSMC rose 21.6 percent to reach about NT$3.33 million, lifting its ranking by 10 notches
SEASONAL WEAKNESS: The combined revenue of the top 10 foundries fell 5.4%, but rush orders and China’s subsidies partially offset slowing demand Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) further solidified its dominance in the global wafer foundry business in the first quarter of this year, remaining far ahead of its closest rival, Samsung Electronics Co, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. TSMC posted US$25.52 billion in sales in the January-to-March period, down 5 percent from the previous quarter, but its market share rose from 67.1 percent the previous quarter to 67.6 percent, TrendForce said in a report. While smartphone-related wafer shipments declined in the first quarter due to seasonal factors, solid demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) devices and urgent TV-related orders
Prices of gasoline and diesel products at domestic fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.2 and NT$0.3 per liter respectively, after international crude oil prices increased last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week snapped a two-week losing streak as the geopolitical situation between Russia and Ukraine turned increasingly tense, CPC said in a statement. News that some oil production facilities in Alberta, Canada, were shut down due to wildfires and that US-Iran nuclear talks made no progress also helped push oil prices to a significant weekly gain, Formosa said
MINERAL DIPLOMACY: The Chinese commerce ministry said it approved applications for the export of rare earths in a move that could help ease US-China trade tensions Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) is today to meet a US delegation for talks in the UK, Beijing announced on Saturday amid a fragile truce in the trade dispute between the two powers. He is to visit the UK from yesterday to Friday at the invitation of the British government, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. He and US representatives are to cochair the first meeting of the US-China economic and trade consultation mechanism, it said. US President Donald Trump on Friday announced that a new round of trade talks with China would start in London beginning today,
RSS