Mega Financial Holding Co (
"We are waiting for the Ministry of Finance's indication on whether or not to proceed with the merger," Mega Financial spokesman Simon Dzeng (
Dzeng downplayed reports that it planned to dispose of its current stake in Taiwan Business bank, saying the final decision rests with the finance ministry.
The Chinese-language Economic Daily News reported yesterday that the financial holding firm planned to offload its 14-percent stake in the bank and had notified the ministry of its decision.
State-controlled Mega Financial announced in late 2005 that it planned to buy up to 26 percent in the state bank for NT$10 billion (US$303 million), or around NT$9 per share, within the following year.
The investment plan was part of the government's second-stage financial reform, which had set a target of halving the number of state-run banks to six by the end of 2005 to consolidate the nation's banking sector. Progress has slowed, however, following several public protests and opposition to the plan.
Mega Financial's shareholding in the bank has stayed at around 14 percent for months without any signs of rising.
The financial group submitted its report to the ministry on its holdings in Taiwan Business last month and a final decision could be made soon, Dzeng added.
Opposition from labor unions on both sides against the potential merger and Taiwan Business' less-than-ideal asset quality have deterred Mega Financial from stepping up its shareholding from the current 14 percent, the executive said.
If the government agrees to halt the merger, it would be the first among the proposed mergers included in the second-stage of financial reforms to fall through.
Deputy Minister of Finance Liu Teng-cheng (
"We'll decide [what to do] after getting the report," he said during a telephone interview.
The government owns more than 30 percent of Taiwan Business Bank, including shareholding controlled by Mega Financial, making it the bank's biggest shareholder. If Mega Financial offloads its shareholding, the new buyer will become the small bank's second-largest shareholder.
In retrospect, Mega Financial has not been very active in pushing the merger, as a company executive admitted last July that the financial holding firm had put its investment on hold out of concern that Taiwan Business Bank's NT$15 billion in bad debts would put a dent on the financial group's profitability.
A Chinese-language report at that time said Mega Financial could dispose of its 14.38 percent stake in Taiwan Business Bank to overseas private equity funds or other potential strategic investors.
Additional reporting by Amber Chung
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the