DEBT
Group to repay bonds
India’s top court ordered Sahara group, the owner of New York’s Plaza Hotel, to repay 174 billion rupees (US$3 billion) of bonds after finding the company guilty of flouting debt-sale rules. The US Supreme Court on Friday asked Sahara Commodity Services Corp and Sahara Housing Investment Corp to return money raised selling optionally fully convertible debentures. India’s market regulator last year said the debt issue did not comply with public sale rules. The verdict may hamper the expansion plans of the closely held group of companies, said Jagannadham Thunuguntla, chief strategist at SMC Global Securities Ltd Sahara led by Subroto Roy.
france
Investment bank set up
France is to launch a public investment bank within days to help cash-strapped companies obtain financing, French President Francois Hollande said on Friday, bringing forward the date as his government speeds up efforts to fight a downturn. The bank, originally due to be launched in January of next year, is designed to support small- and medium-sized firms which are struggling to obtain financing from private lenders amid tight credit conditions. France is also fast-tracking the launch of a scheme to create 150,000 state-sponsored jobs, in a move to tackle rising unemployment. The new body brings together several existing public lenders under the state bank Caisse des Depots, aiming to offer thousands of credit-hungry companies business advice as well as a single window for loans.
AVIATION
Airlines sign agreement
American Airlines parent AMR Corp and US Airways Group Inc have signed a non-disclosure agreement as they evaluate a potential merger that would create an airline that rivals leader United Continental Holdings Inc in scope. The two carriers said on Friday they agreed to share confidential information, work with bankrupt AMR’s creditors committee, and not talk to third parties about any terms of their possible combination. American has also signed non-disclosure agreements with other parties, according to a memo the company sent to managers on Friday. Many analysts consider US Airways to be the leading contender for AMR, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November.
Brazil
GDP increases modestly
Brazil’s GDP grew a modest 0.4 percent in the second quarter of this year compared with the previous one, with market analysts forecasting that the growth rate for the year would not exceed two percent. The world’s sixth largest economy expanded 0.5 percent from a year ago, the country’s statistical agency IBGE said on Friday. Brazil’s economy expanded 0.6 percent in the first half of the year and 1.2 percent over 12 months, boosted by household and government consumption, it added. “This result reflects the negative influence of the world economy and shows that the government’s stimulus measures have not yet fully had their anticipated impact,” said Finance Minister Guido Mantega, who nonetheless pointed to early signs of an uptick in the third quarter.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona, as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the US state, the company said in a statement yesterday. Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona’s chairman, the statement said. According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31. Castanares joined TSMC in
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
FACTORY SHIFT: While Taiwan produces most of the world’s AI servers, firms are under pressure to move manufacturing amid geopolitical tensions Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) started building artificial intelligence (AI) servers in India’s south, the latest boon for the rapidly growing country’s push to become a high-tech powerhouse. The company yesterday said it has started making the large, powerful computers in Pondicherry, southeastern India, moving beyond products such as laptops and smartphones. The Chinese company would also build out its facilities in the Bangalore region, including a research lab with a focus on AI. Lenovo’s plans mark another win for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who tries to attract more technology investment into the country. While India’s tense relationship with China has suffered setbacks