UAE
Group refinances debt
An indebted business park owned by Dubai’s government says it has received sufficient support from lenders to repay US$2 billion early as part of a broader refinancing effort. Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZ) said in a NASDAQ Dubai statement yesterday that creditors representing about 89 percent of the 7.5 billion dirham sukuk, or Islamic bond, have approved the plan. JAFZ was supposed to repay the debt this November. It sought agreement from lenders to repay it early so it could put a new refinancing plan in place. JAFZ operates a sprawling industrial and logistics park next to Dubai’s Jebel Ali port, the Mideast’s largest.
ENERGY
Gambia looks for oil
Gambia and Camac Energy Inc of the US signed a contract for the exploration and production of oil off the West African country’s coast, state-run media said. The government selected Camac from among three companies shortlisted for drilling rights at Gambia’s A2 and A5 concessions, the oil ministry said in a statement broadcast over state-owned radio and GRTS television. Camac is a Houston-based explorer with operations in Nigeria and, through subsidiaries, in China. The company will work closely with Gambia National Petroleum Corp. and the oil ministry, an unidentified Camac official who signed the agreement said from Lagos, Nigeria.
AUTO PARTS
Delphi seeks big expansion
Delphi, the giant automotive supplier that was once part of General Motors, has offered just under US$1 billion for the major piece of a French company that makes electronic connectors. Delphi said late on Thursday it was close to completing a deal to buy the motorized vehicles division of connectors maker FCI for US$972 million. Delphi said the deal would broaden its customer base and boost its business in Asia, giving it manufacturing and engineering facilities in China, India and South Korea. Delphi was rescued from bankruptcy in 2009 by a consortium of hedge fund and private equity owners, including Paulson & Co, Elliott Associates, Silver Point Capital and Oaktree Capital.
INTERNET
Yahoo kills tablet mag
Yahoo is killing a tablet magazine called “Livestand” just six months after its debut on the iPad. The decision announced on Friday is part of the struggling Internet company’s latest turnaround effort. Last month, Yahoo Inc told analysts it would close or combine about 50 services that have not been performing up to expectations. “Livestand” featured software that could be customized to pull content from Yahoo’s own Web site and other digital publishers to cater to each user’s tastes.
ENERGY
Icahn buys into gas firm
Activist investor Carl Icahn has taken a sizable stake in Chesapeake Energy Corp and is calling for at least four of company’s directors to be replaced. Icahn spent about US$785 million to buy 50.1 million shares, or 7.6 percent, of the US’ second-largest natural gas producer. The billionaire investor’s stock buy was disclosed in a regulatory filing on Friday. It comes as Chesapeake has been hit hard by falling natural gas prices. It is also being criticized for allowing chief executive Aubrey McClendon to borrow money from companies that do business with Chesapeake and allowing him the perk of buying personal stakes in company wells. McClendon gave up his post as chairman on May 1 after reports of his financial dealings were made public.
Taichung reported the steepest fall in completed home prices among the six special municipalities in the first quarter of this year, data compiled by Taiwan Realty Co (台灣房屋) showed yesterday. From January through last month, the average transaction price for completed homes in Taichung fell 8 percent from a year earlier to NT$299,000 (US$9,483) per ping (3.3m²), said Taiwan Realty, which compiled the data based on the government’s price registration platform. The decline could be attributed to many home buyers choosing relatively affordable used homes to live in themselves, instead of newly built homes in the city’s prime property market, Taiwan Realty
The government yesterday approved applications by Alphabet Inc’s Google to invest NT$27.08 billion (US$859.98 million) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. The Department of Investment Review approved two investments proposed by Google, with much of the funds to be used for data processing and electronic information supply services, as well as inventory procurement businesses in the semiconductor field, the ministry said. It marks the second consecutive year that Google has applied to increase its investment in Taiwan. Google plans to infuse NT$25.34 billion into Charter Investments Ltd (特許投資顧問) through its Singapore-based subsidiary Fructan Holdings Singapore Pte Ltd, and
JET JUICE: The war on Iran’s secondary effects have seen fuel prices skyrocket, knocking flight schedules down to earth in return as airlines struggle with costs Airline passengers should brace for more irritation in the next few months as carriers worldwide cancel flights and ground planes to cope with stratospheric increases in jet-fuel prices. Dutch flag carrier KLM is the latest company to cut its schedule, saying on Thursday that it would scrap 80 return flights at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport in the coming month. That puts it in the same league as United Airlines Holdings Inc, Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd, which have all pruned itineraries to mitigate costs. Global capacity for next month has been reduced by about 3 percentage points, with all
The US said it plans to help build a first-of-its-kind industrial hub in the Philippines to boost production of inputs crucial to US supply chains. The 4,000-acre hub is intended to be “a purpose-built platform for allied manufacturing” and “an investment acceleration hub where the specific industrial activities are shaped by market demand,” the US Department of State said on Thursday. The project — touted as an “economic security zone” — would be within the Luzon Economic Corridor, a flagship economic project backed by the US and Japan on the main Philippine island. The project was also described as “the first artificial intelligence
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