Plans of a merger between SinoPac Financial Holdings Co (建華金控) and Taishin Financial Holding Co (台新金控) made a comeback yesterday, with SinoPac's chairman stressing that shareholders might discuss the proposal thoroughly next month.
"The talks with Taishin did not collapse," Richard Hong (
"Both Taishin and International Bank of Taipei (IBT, 台北商銀) are good merger partners, but the final decision should be made during the annual general meeting on May. 10," he said.
Hong made the remark despite a statement by Taishin chairman Thomas Wu (吳東亮) on March 29 that talks to buy SinoPac had collapsed because its rival wanted to merge with IBT. At the time, Wu also said that SinoPac and Taishin disagree about management restructuring.
But Hong, who was reported to favor a partnership with Taishin, said that he had contacted Wu personally and obtained a letter of intent from him on March 14 offering a 35 percent premium to buy SinoPac for NT$23.50 a share. In the meantime, SinoPac has not yet received a written proposal from IBT, he added.
The letter further states that Paul Lo (盧正昕), president of SinoPac, would hold the position of vice chairman and co-CEO after the merger, Hong said.
With over 80 branches in northern Taiwan, IBT has a larger market presence than Taishin, making IBT a suitable partner for SinoPac, Hong said.
But he noted that foreign investors, who own 30 percent of SinoPac, as well as the other shareholders, have the right to know the details of the proposed merger -- a remark that suggested foreign investors had not been informed of Taishin's merger proposal.
Any future discussion relating to possible mergers must involve independent consultations with professionals to ensure a fair and equitable evaluation, must be advantageous to shareholders of both parties and should seek consensus from the board of directors of SinoPac, Hong said.
Taishin president Julius Chen (
"The merger deal with SinoPac was off three days ago, and whether we will make another offer depends on SinoPac's decision," Chen said, adding that if SinoPac still considers merging with Taishin, the company will convene a board meeting to discuss the issue.
Shares of contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) came under pressure yesterday after a report that Apple Inc is looking to shift some orders from the Taiwanese company to Intel Corp. TSMC shares fell NT$55, or 2.4 percent, to close at NT$2,235 on the local main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. Despite the losses, TSMC is expected to continue to benefit from sound fundamentals, as it maintains a lead over its peers in high-end process development, analysts said. “The selling was a knee-jerk reaction to an Intel-Apple report over the weekend,” Mega International Investment Services Corp (兆豐國際投顧) analyst Alex Huang
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to remain Apple Inc’s primary chip manufacturing partner despite reports that Apple could shift some orders to Intel Corp, industry experts said yesterday. The comments came after The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Apple and Intel had reached a preliminary agreement following more than a year of negotiations for Intel to manufacture some chips for Apple devices. Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (台灣經濟研究院) economist Arisa Liu (劉佩真) said TSMC’s advanced packaging technologies, including integrated fan-out and chip-on-wafer-on-substrate, remain critical to the performance of Apple’s A-series and M-series chips. She said Intel and Samsung
POWER BUILDUP: Powered by Nvidia’s B200 Blackwell chips, the data center would support MediaTek’s computing power demand and business growth, the company said Smartphone chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) yesterday launched a new artificial intelligence (AI) data center with a maximum capacity of 45 megawatts to meet its rising demand for computing power required to develop new advanced chips for AI applications. The company has completed the first-phase computing power buildup at the data center in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼), providing 15 megawatts of capacity to support its research and development (R&D) capabilities, despite an industrywide shortage of key components, MediaTek said. Supply constraints have plagued a wide range of key components, including memory chips, solid-state drives, power supply units and central
TRANSITION: With the closure, the company would reorganize its Taiwanese unit to a sales and service-focused model, Bridgestone said Bridgestone Corp yesterday announced it would cease manufacturing operations at its tire plant in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), affecting more than 500 workers. Bridgestone Taiwan Co (台灣普利司通) said in a statement that the decision was based on the Tokyo-based tire maker’s adjustments to its global operational strategy and long-term market development considerations. The Taiwanese unit would be reorganized as part of the closure, effective yesterday, and all related production activities would be concluded, the statement said. Under the plan, Bridgestone would continue to deepen its presence in the Taiwanese market, while transitioning to a sales and service-focused business model, it added. The Hsinchu
RSS