E. Sun Financial Holding Co (玉山金控) has secured a US$200 million capital injection from Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia and its affiliates through the issuance of euro-convertible bonds (ECBs), a company executive said yesterday.
Morgan Stanley has agreed to subscribe to US$46.2 million in ECBs later this month in exchange for a 2.5 percent stake in E. Sun Financial at NT$16.16 per share, which represents a 1 percent premium over the Taiwanese firm’s closing share price of NT$16 yesterday, said Anthony Cheng (鄭恩融), an associate in E. Sun Financial’s investor relations department.
“This investment will be long-term, running over 10 years, although Morgan Stanley will be given the right to decide whether to pull out in five years,” Cheng said by telephone yesterday.
The financial service provider will finalize a date for Morgan Stanley to subscribe to the remaining US$153.8 million in ECBs in exchange for another 7 percent stake at NT$19 per share, which represents a 18.75 percent premium, Cheng said.
Upon full conversion, E. Sun Financial’s stakes owned by foreign investors would reach almost 50 percent, from the current level of 40 percent, he said.
E. Sun Financial reported on Wednesday that its revenue last month reached NT$73.5 million (US$2.4 million), a drop of 79.26 percent from a year earlier.
During the first half of the year, the company saw revenues fall 21.54 percent to NT$1.47 billion from the same period of last year, the Taiwan Stock Exchange’s tallies showed.
Shares of E. Sun Financial have dropped 5.05 percent since the beginning of the year.
Cheng said that Morgan Stanley had shown great interest in investing in E. Sun Financial, which he said had outperformed peers in corporate governance, risk management and mortgage-lending business, as well as the growth in loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
As of the first quarter, E. Sun Financial had snapped up a 4.8 percent share of the home mortgage market and a 3.7 percent share in loans to SMEs in Taiwan, he said.
After Morgan Stanley’s capital injection, E. Sun Financial’s capital would rise from NT$33 billion as of May to around NT$39 billion.
Cheng said that his company planned to use the capital to expand its local businesses while seeking opportunities to facilitate mergers and acquisitions in overseas markets.
Prior to Morgan Stanley, E. Sun Financial had entered a US$400 million strategic alliance with Asia Financial Holdings Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings Ltd, in 2006. However, Temasek exercised its right to pull out US$267 million in March this year.
Asia Financial Holdings still holds a 6.28 percent stake in E. Sun Financial.
JITTERS: Nexperia has a 20 percent market share for chips powering simpler features such as window controls, and changing supply chains could take years European carmakers are looking into ways to scratch components made with parts from China, spooked by deepening geopolitical spats playing out through chipmaker Nexperia BV and Beijing’s export controls on rare earths. To protect operations from trade ructions, several automakers are pushing major suppliers to find permanent alternatives to Chinese semiconductors, people familiar with the matter said. The industry is considering broader changes to its supply chain to adapt to shifting geopolitics, Europe’s main suppliers lobby CLEPA head Matthias Zink said. “We had some indications already — questions like: ‘How can you supply me without this dependency on China?’” Zink, who also
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) received about NT$147 billion (US$4.71 billion) in subsidies from the US, Japanese, German and Chinese governments over the past two years for its global expansion. Financial data compiled by the world’s largest contract chipmaker showed the company secured NT$4.77 billion in subsidies from the governments in the third quarter, bringing the total for the first three quarters of the year to about NT$71.9 billion. Along with the NT$75.16 billion in financial aid TSMC received last year, the chipmaker obtained NT$147 billion in subsidies in almost two years, the data showed. The subsidies received by its subsidiaries —
At least US$50 million for the freedom of an Emirati sheikh: That is the king’s ransom paid two weeks ago to militants linked to al-Qaeda who are pushing to topple the Malian government and impose Islamic law. Alongside a crippling fuel blockade, the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) has made kidnapping wealthy foreigners for a ransom a pillar of its strategy of “economic jihad.” Its goal: Oust the junta, which has struggled to contain Mali’s decade-long insurgency since taking power following back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021, by scaring away investors and paralyzing the west African country’s economy.
RE100 INITIATIVE: Exporters need sufficient supplies of renewable energy to meet their global commitments and remain competitive, the economics ministry said Local export-oriented manufacturers, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), require sufficient supplies of green energy to maintain their competitiveness and regulations already ensure that renewable energy development adheres to environmental protection principles, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday, as the legislature imposed further restrictions on solar panel installations. The opposition-led Legislative Yuan yesterday passed third readings to proposed amendments to three acts — the Environmental Impact Assessment Act (環境影響評估法), the Act for the Development of Tourism (發展觀光條例) and the Geology Act (地質法) — which would largely prohibit the construction of solar panels in some areas. The amendments stipulate that ground-mounted solar
RSS