PHARMACEUTICALS
Bayer in talks with Algeta
Bayer AG, Germany’s largest drugmaker, is in “early stage” talks to acquire Norwegian partner Algeta ASA, whose prostate cancer medicine was approved for sale in the US in May, for about US$2.42 billion. Algeta received “a preliminary acquisition proposal” for 336 kroner (US$55.03) a share, the Oslo-based drugmaker said in a statement to the stock exchange yesterday. The offer values Algeta 27 percent higher than Monday’s closing price of 264.6 kroner. There is no guarantee Bayer’s proposal will result in a deal, Algeta said. Algeta shares rose as much as 30 percent. “We do not see the potential in the company justifying such a high takeover price,” DZ Bank AG analyst Peter Spengler wrote in a note to clients.
AVIATION
FAA to warn on ice
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says it will put out a bulletin this week to deal with the risk that ice could damage engines on some Boeing 747s and 787s. The FAA says the airworthiness directive will make sure pilots avoid icing conditions that could hurt engine power and possibly damage the engines. In certain conditions, ice crystals can form in the engines, reducing their power. The problem has come up with General Electric engines used on Boeing Co’s 747-8s and 787s. The US agency says it is an “interim” action, so more could be coming later. The directive will apply to 14 US planes, including Boeing 787s flown by United Airlines.
TELECOMS
BlackBerry execs replaced
BlackBerry’s interim chief executive has shaken up the company’s management team in a move seen as a prelude to him taking the top job himself. BlackBerry chief operating officer Kristian Tear and chief marketing officer Frank Boulben, both hired by recently ousted chief executive Thorsten Heins, will leave the struggling smartphone maker. The company said on Monday that Brian Bidulka is being replaced by James Yersh as chief financial officer. Yersh previously served as senior vice president and controller. Former Sybase chief executive John Chen was brought in as the interim chief executive after negotiations to sell the Waterloo, Canada, company collapsed this month. Chen also serves as executive chair of the board.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
Rupiah falls after debt sale
The rupiah dropped to the weakest level since March 2009 after Indonesia missed its fundraising target at a domestic US dollar debt sale amid concern the US Federal Reserve will bring forward a plan to cut stimulus. The government raised US$190 million yesterday by selling US dollar-denominated bonds to local investors, who submitted US$294 million of bids, short of the US$450 million goal, said Robert Pakpahan, director-general of the debt management office. Global funds sold US$361 million more of local stocks than they bought this month through yesterday as the minutes of a Fed meeting last month showed the central bank may reduce its monthly bond purchases in the “coming months.” “We expect to see the rupiah weakening, keeping in view the Fed-tapering risk,” Singapore-based Commonwealth Bank of Australia currency strategist Andy Ji said. “There’s been damage to confidence recently, so the government may look to do another sale of the bonds when conditions stabilize.”
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
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
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