E.Sun Financial Holding Co (玉山金控) yesterday announced that it was forming a partnership with Singapore-based Temasek Holdings Ltd, selling US$400 million of convertible bonds to Asia Financial Holdings Pte Ltd, Temasek's wholly owned subsidiary.
Asia Financial Holdings -- which will make the investment through its 100 percent-controlled subsidiary Adahlis Holdings BV -- will become E.Sun Financial Holding's largest institutional shareholder, with a 15 percent stake, after the conversion of bonds is completed in 2008, E.Sun Financial's spokesman Tu Wu-lin (
Asia Financial Holdings will gain one seat on E.Sun Financial's 13-member board in the shareholders meeting in June after converting the bonds into a 5 percent stake at NT$21.21 per share in one month, Tu said.
The Singaporean firm could obtain a total of two to three seats following the conversion of the rest of the bonds at NT$24.36 per share two years from now, he added.
E.Sun Financial will use the proceeds to strengthen its capital adequacy ratio and for potential merger and acquisition (M&A) activities, Tu said.
"We will not give up any M&A opportunities in the future to sustain our development," he said.
He declined to say whether the company was engaged in any merger talks at the moment.
"We are positive about the partnership amid the recent lackluster [performance of the] finance sector," said Vincent Chang (
Separately, Taishin Financial Holding Co (台新金控) yesterday signed contracts with Newbridge Capital of the US and Nomura Group of Japan, which had agreed to invest a combined NT$31 billion in the local finance group through a private placement last month.
The deal will enable Taishin Financial to strengthen its capital structure and adequacy while building up its leading position in the nation's finance sector, the company said in a statement released yesterday.
On Ireland’s blustery western seaboard, researchers are gleefully flying giant kites — not for fun, but in the hope of generating renewable electricity and sparking a “revolution” in wind energy. “We use a kite to capture the wind and a generator at the bottom of it that captures the power,” said Padraic Doherty of Kitepower, the Dutch firm behind the venture. At its test site in operation since September 2023 near the small town of Bangor Erris, the team transports the vast 60-square-meter kite from a hangar across the lunar-like bogland to a generator. The kite is then attached by a
Leading Taiwanese bicycle brands Giant Manufacturing Co (巨大機械) and Merida Industry Co (美利達工業) on Sunday said that they have adopted measures to mitigate the impact of the tariff policies of US President Donald Trump’s administration. The US announced at the beginning of this month that it would impose a 20 percent tariff on imported goods made in Taiwan, effective on Thursday last week. The tariff would be added to other pre-existing most-favored-nation duties and industry-specific trade remedy levy, which would bring the overall tariff on Taiwan-made bicycles to between 25.5 percent and 31 percent. However, Giant did not seem too perturbed by the
Foxconn Technology Co (鴻準精密), a metal casing supplier owned by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), yesterday announced plans to invest US$1 billion in the US over the next decade as part of its business transformation strategy. The Apple Inc supplier said in a statement that its board approved the investment on Thursday, as part of a transformation strategy focused on precision mold development, smart manufacturing, robotics and advanced automation. The strategy would have a strong emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI), the company added. The company said it aims to build a flexible, intelligent production ecosystem to boost competitiveness and sustainability. Foxconn
TARIFF CONCERNS: Semiconductor suppliers are tempering expectations for the traditionally strong third quarter, citing US tariff uncertainty and a stronger NT dollar Several Taiwanese semiconductor suppliers are taking a cautious view of the third quarter — typically a peak season for the industry — citing uncertainty over US tariffs and the stronger New Taiwan dollar. Smartphone chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科技) said that customers accelerated orders in the first half of the year to avoid potential tariffs threatened by US President Donald Trump’s administration. As a result, it anticipates weaker-than-usual peak-season demand in the third quarter. The US tariff plan, announced on April 2, initially proposed a 32 percent duty on Taiwanese goods. Its implementation was postponed by 90 days to July 9, then