The Fair Trade Commission yesterday gave the green light to a planned NT$174 million (US$5.49 million) online shopping venture in Taiwan between President Chain Store Corp (
"To ensure fair competition, the approval is given on the condition that President Chain will not reject rival online shoppers from offering pickup and payment services at its convenience stores," section chief Brian Chang (
As the local online shopping market is not yet saturated, the commission said the Rakuten-backed virtual mall would not pose a threat to its local rivals, nor would it take up a majority share and monopolize the market in the near term.
President Chain filed an application to the commission after inking an agreement with Rakuten in late November to form the first Rakuten-backed virtual mall to operate outside Japan. The agreement marked the first cross-border collaboration between the company and the Uni-President Group in 30 years.
President Chain, which runs the nation's biggest convenience store chain with 4,600 7-Eleven stores, will hold a 49 percent stake in the venture, while Rakuten will own the remaining 51 percent.
President Chain expects the new online shopping site to begin operations in the second quarter of this year, break even in its second year and attract up to 3,000 virtual stores within three years.
President Chain shares rose NT$0.4, or 0.4 percent, to close at NT$92.50 on the Taiwan stock exchange yesterday.
Mercuries Life Insurance Co (三商美邦人壽) shares surged to a seven-month high this week after local media reported that E.Sun Financial Holding Co (玉山金控) had outbid CTBC Financial Holding Co (中信金控) in the financially strained insurer’s ongoing sale process. Shares of the mid-sized life insurer climbed 5.8 percent this week to NT$6.72, extending a nearly 18 percent rally over the past month, as investors bet on the likelihood of an impending takeover. The final round of bidding closed on Thursday, marking a critical step in the 32-year-old insurer’s search for a buyer after years of struggling to meet capital adequacy requirements. Local media reports
US sports leagues rushed to get in on the multi-billion US dollar bonanza of legalized betting, but the arrest of an National Basketball Association (NBA) coach and player in two sprawling US federal investigations show the potential cost of partnering with the gambling industry. Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, a former Detroit Pistons star and an NBA Hall of Famer, was arrested for his alleged role in rigged illegal poker games that prosecutors say were tied to Mafia crime families. Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier was charged with manipulating his play for the benefit of bettors and former NBA player and
The DBS Foundation yesterday announced the launch of two flagship programs, “Silver Motion” and “Happier Caregiver, Healthier Seniors,” in partnership with CCILU Ltd, Hondao Senior Citizens’ Welfare Foundation and the Garden of Hope Foundation to help Taiwan face the challenges of a rapidly aging population. The foundation said it would invest S$4.91 million (US$3.8 million) over three years to foster inclusion and resilience in an aging society. “Aging may bring challenges, but it also brings opportunities. With many Asian markets rapidly becoming super-aged, the DBS Foundation is working with a regional ecosystem of like-minded partners across the private, public and people sectors
BREAKTHROUGH TECH: Powertech expects its fan-out PLP system to become mainstream, saying it can offer three-times greater production throughput Chip packaging service provider Powertech Technology Inc (力成科技) plans to more than double its capital expenditures next year to more than NT$40 billion (US$1.31 billion) as demand for its new panel-level packaging (PLP) technology, primarily used in chips for artificial intelligence (AI) applications, has greatly exceeded what it can supply. A significant portion of the budget, about US$1 billion, would be earmarked for fan-out PLP technology, Powertech told investors yesterday. Its heavy investment in fan-out PLP technology over the past 10 years is expected to bear fruit in 2027 after the technology enters volume production, it said, adding that the tech would
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