Huawei Technologies Co (華為技術), China's biggest maker of telecommunications equipment, declined to comment on a Sunday Times newspaper report that the company is in talks to take over Marconi Corp, a British manufacturer of phone equipment.
"We don't comment on speculation about our business activities," Fu Jun, a Huawei spokesman in Shenzhen, said yesterday. Huawei, founded in 1988 by former Chinese army officer Ren Zhengfei (任正非), in January signed an agreement with Marconi to jointly distribute each other's products and to cooperate on research and technology.
A transaction could value Marconi at more than ?600 million (US$1.06 billion), the Sunday Times reported on Sunday, citing unidentified people familiar with the discussion.
"We are not going to comment at this stage," David Beck, a Marconi spokesman in London, said on Sunday.
Huawei's possible purchase of Marconi would follow other Chinese companies looking to benefit from foreign expertise and markets through acquisitions. Lenovo Holdings Ltd (
"It would be a good move for Huawei, as it would immediately raise its international visibility as Marconi is an established brand name, and accelerate the company's overseas expansion plans," said Zhou Yi, an analyst at Analysys International (易觀國際), a Beijing-based technology market researcher, who estimates the deal at about US$1 billion.
Even so, the proposed deal would meet resistance in the UK on concern about the loss of jobs as more Chinese companies eye acquisitions of troubled companies, Zhou said.
Last month China's Nanjing Automobile Group Corp (南京汽車) bought bankrupt UK carmaker MG Rover Group Ltd for an undisclosed sum after talks with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp failed.
Nanjing Auto paid "a little more than" ?50 million for MG Rover, the Financial Times reported on July 23, citing unnamed sources.
China National Offshore Oil Corp (
A formal proposal has not been sent to Marconi's board and the two companies' existing partnership to distribute each other's products does not mean a merger is certain, the Sunday Times said, adding that Marconi was also pursuing options including talks with other companies.
Marconi is represented in the discussions by Morgan Stanley, and Huawei brought in UBS AG as adviser, the UK newspaper said.
Last week Marconi reported its fiscal first-quarter loss widened to ?36 million after the company failed to win a contract from BT Group PLC, its biggest customer, and had to take a reorganization charge. Sales at continuing operations fell 1.4 percent to ?285 million.
BUSINESS UPDATE: The iPhone assembler said operations outlook is expected to show quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth for the second quarter Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported strong growth in sales last month, potentially raising expectations for iPhone sales while artificial intelligence (AI)-related business booms. The company, which assembles the majority of Apple Inc’s smartphones, reported a 19.03 percent rise in monthly sales to NT$510.9 billion (US$15.78 billion), from NT$429.22 billion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 14.16 percent, it said. The company in a statement said that last month’s revenue was a record-breaking April performance. Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), assembles most iPhones, but the company is diversifying its business to
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
Qualcomm Inc, the world’s biggest seller of smartphone processors, gave an upbeat forecast for sales and profit in the current period, suggesting demand for handsets is increasing after a two-year slump. Revenue in the three months ended in June will be US$8.8 billion to US$9.6 billion, the company said in a statement Wednesday. Excluding certain items, earnings will be US$2.15 to US$2.35 a share. Analysts had projected sales of US$9.08 billion and earnings of US$2.16 a share. The outlook signals that the smartphone market has begun to bounce back, tracking with Qualcomm’s forecast that demand would gradually recover this year. The San
Clambering hand-over-hand, sweat dripping into his eyes, a durian laborer expertly slices a cumbersome fruit from a tree before tossing it down to land with a soft thump in his colleague’s waiting arms about 15m below. Among Thailand’s most famous and lucrative exports, the pungent “king of fruits” is as distinctive in its smell as its spiky green-brown carapace, and has been farmed in the kingdom for hundreds of years. However, a vicious heat wave engulfing Southeast Asia has resulted in smaller yields and spiraling costs, with growers and sellers increasingly panicked as global warming damages the industry. “This year is a crisis,”