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.
Poland is betting on a flood of investments and technology transfers from Taiwanese companies to reengineer its US$1 trillion economy. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said yesterday that Poland will no longer be “just an assembly hub” as it pursues further investments from the likes of Foxconn Technology Group (富士康). The firm, whose full name is Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), last month agreed to build electric vehicles (EVs) in the European Union nation and now could be a partner in a semiconductor venture, he said. The government’s aim is to boost manufacturing and the country’s high-tech chops in an era
Taiwan remained the sixth-largest net creditor nation in the world last year, despite a fall of more than 10 percent in its net international investment position (NIIP) over the year, the central bank said yesterday. The NIIP is the difference between a country’s external financial assets and its external financial liabilities. Taiwan’s external financial assets hit US$3.27 trillion at the end of last year, up US$275.75 billion or 9.2 percent from a year earlier, the central bank said in its annual NIIP report. The growth largely reflected an increase in holdings of overseas marketable securities by residents in Taiwan, as well as a
RESTRICTION BREACH: ASML said that it denies ‘unfounded rumors regarding non-compliance with export controls concerning China,’ and enforces controls strictly US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick in a series of recent meetings outlined concerns to Dutch chip-equipment giant ASML Holding NV’s senior leaders that one of its top-of-the-line machines might have made its way into China, in violation of US-led export restrictions. In the meetings, Lutnick expressed concern to ASML executives over the company’s extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) machines, people familiar with the talks said. EUV systems are used by firms such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) to manufacture processors for the likes of Nvidia Corp and Apple Inc. ASML has never been allowed to ship them to China because of curbs
BAD FAITH LITIGATION? The two companies, owned by a California-based private equity firm, could be seeking licensing fees or a settlement payout with the suit Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) Director-General Liao Cheng-wei (廖承威) said yesterday he suspected that two firms suing contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) for patent infringement are “patent trolls.” A patent troll refers to a company that buys patents not for manufacturing products, but to sue other companies for compensation, accusing them of using its patents. Patent trolls, formally called Non-Practicing Entities or Patent Assertion Entities, were responsible for more than 50 percent of lawsuits in the US last year, costing targeted businesses tens of billions of US dollars a year, according to the US-based LegalCharity Web site. Asked whether
RSS