■ Software
US accepts Oracle ruling
The US Justice Department said on Friday it will stop trying to block Oracle Corp's hostile US$7.7 billion takeover bid for rival business software maker PeopleSoft Inc. Hewitt Pate, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's antitrust division, said the government will not appeal a judge's decision rejecting the government's claim that the merger should be blocked on antitrust grounds. "While we disagree with the district court's disappointing decision, we respect the role of the courts in the United States merger review process," Pate said. San Francisco US District Judge Vaughn Walker ruled on Sept. 9 against the lawsuit filed by the Justice Department and 10 states that argued the combination of Oracle and PeopleSoft would sharply reduce competition in the business software marketplace. The Justice Department decision does not foreclose the possibility that one or more of the 10 states involved in the case could bring their own separate appeal.
■ Sewing Industry
KSIN sews up Singer deal
KSIN Holdings Ltd, an affiliate of Kohlberg & Co LLC, said on Friday it had acquired the Singer Sewing Co in a US$65.5 million cash deal. The transaction, which effectively takes Singer NV out of the sewing business, also includes US$22.5 million in promissory notes and the assumption of US$46.3 million in sewing-related debt. As part of the agreement, Singer NV will also have to change its name by October next year. Under the terms of the deal, KSIN will assume control of the Singer brand name and sewing operations in the US, Brazil and China, among other countries, as well a network of independent distributors and dealers. The business also includes manufacturing facilities in Brazil and China. Singer NV, which also sells consumer electronics, appliances and furniture, will retain retail operations in Asia and Jamaica.
■ Auto Industry
South Korean auto sales rise
South Korean automakers posted a 20 percent increase in sales last month over the same month last year as exports offset a continued slump in domestic sales. The country's five largest automakers sold 377,947 vehicles last month, up from 315,019 a year earlier. Exports were 30 percent higher and domestic sales were down 4.4 percent. Hyundai Motor ranked first, selling more than 193,000 vehicles, an increase of 13 percent, and its affiliate, Kia Motors, ranked second, selling more than 96,000 vehicles, an increase of 17 percent. GM Daewoo Auto and Technology, a part of General Motors, ranked third, selling more than 67,000 vehicles, an increase of 50 percent.
■ Telecoms
New rules affect Vodafone
The British communications company Vodafone Group said that new accounting rules in the US would force it to reduce the book value of its holdings in its Verizon Wireless mobile phone business. Vodafone, which owns 45 percent of Verizon Wireless, said it was still evaluating the effect the change would have on its books. New rules issued this week by the US Securities and Exchange Commission require operators to distinguish between the value of mobile phone licenses and the accounting item known as good will on their books.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained