The Taiwanese love to sing. Banking on this fact, two major financial holding companies have jointly invested NT$300 million in Cash Box KTV (
The deal was the final stage of Cash Box's plan to increase capital from NT$1.1 billion to NT$1.5 billion, Hung Mei-lan (
Cash Box is the country's second-largest KTV chain with some 20 outlets nationwide.
Cathay Financial Holding Co (
Cash Box is expected to be listed on the TAIEX late this year or early next year.
Earlier this week Cathay spent NT$150 million to acquire a 2.5 percent stake in Cash Box, according to Cathay's executive vice president Lee Chang-ken (
The purchase gives Cathay a 3.3 percent share in the KTV giant.
Late last week rival Fubon also spent NT$150 million to gain a 2.5 percent share in Cash Box, Fubon deputy manager Jung Yi-chiang (
Market analysts said investment in the cash cow should prove profitable.
"The KTV sector has been making money for years ? the investment return is quite enjoyable," said Edward Jeng (
Over the last four years, the 60-KTV-outlet Holiday Entertainment Co (
Cash Box is expected to top that showing with NT$4 earnings per share this year, he added.
Financial holding companies are attracted to the fact that the KTV industry operates on a cash basis.
The nation's only listed KTV is Holiday, a company known for paying its year-end dividends in cash, said Wen Tuan-lien (
Meanwhile, Cash Box said the capital it has raised will be mainly used for overseas expansion.
"The company is considering opening up more new parlors in China within the next few years," Hung said.
The nearly saturated local-KTV market is forcing Cash Box to expand abroad for sales growth.
"The local KTV market has stop expanding and had even encountered negative growth," Jeng said.
Holiday sales fell 7.8 percent last year, year-on-year, while growth was 26 percent between 1999 and 2000, he added.
Cash Box has already set up four outlets in China -- three in Shanghai and one in Beijing.
In early January, Cash Box spent NT$325 million to acquire a 31.9 percent stake in rival Holiday.
purpose: Tesla’s CEO sought to meet senior Chinese officials to discuss the rollout of its ‘full self-driving’ software in China and approval to transfer data they had collected Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing yesterday on an unannounced visit, where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of "full self-driving" (FSD) software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Chinese state media reported that he met Premier Li Qiang (李強) in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla's development in China could be regarded as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation. Musk confirmed his meeting with the premier yesterday with a post on social media platform X. "Honored to meet with Premier Li
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV on Friday announced an investment of NT$13.5 billion (US$414.62 million) over the next five years in Taiwan. The first multinational brewing company to operate in Taiwan, Heineken made the statement at a ceremony held at its brewery in Pingtung County. It also outlined its efforts to make the brewery “net zero” by 2030. Heineken has been in the Taiwanese market for 20 years, Heineken Taiwan managing director Jeff Wu (吳建甫) said. With strong support from local consumers, the Dutch brewery decided to transition from sales to manufacturing in the country, Wu said. Heineken assumed majority ownership and management rights
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI