Goldsun Development & Construction Co (國產實業), controlled by Taiwan’s Lin family, and its unit TransAsia Airways Corp (復興航空) have denied a report they are bidding for American International Group Inc’s (AIG) Taiwanese life insurance unit.
“Neither Goldsun nor TransAsia made a bid for Nan Shan,” Lin Shing-chih (林信智), a spokesman for Goldsun, said yesterday.
The real estate developer holds a 48 percent stake in TransAsia.
The Chinese-language Commercial Times yesterday reported Primus Financial Holdings Ltd, Goldsun Development and TransAsia formed a group to bid for AIG’s Nan Shan Life Insurance Co (南山人壽), without saying where it got the information. The group offered US$2.3 billion to US$2.5 billion, according to the business daily.
Neither Vincent Lin (林明升), chairman of TransAsia and a board member of Goldsun, nor his father Lin Shiaw-shinn (林孝信), Goldsun’s chairman, are making a bid for Nan Shan, said Max Chu (朱漢光), a spokesman for Taiwan Secom (中興保全), Lin Shiaw-shinn’s holding company. Amanda Chou (周佳容), a spokeswoman for Nan Shan, didn’t answer calls to her mobile phone.
Chinatrust Financial Holdings Co (中信金控), Ruentex Group (潤泰集團), Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控) and Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) have submitted offers for Nan Shan, according to the companies and a person with knowledge of the matter.
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
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
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”