INTERNET
Yahoo Japan nixes deal
Internet giant Yahoo Japan said yesterday that it had canceled plans to buy Japanese telecommunications company eAccess from its parent SoftBank Corp in a deal that was valued at about US$3.2 billion. In March, Yahoo’s Japanese unit — whose top shareholder is SoftBank — announced the deal which it said was aimed at growing the firm’s Internet services business through smartphones and tablets. However, yesterday Yahoo Japan said it had called off the merger after concluding it was more effective to operate the two firms independently. The deal had been scheduled to be completed in early June.
FINANCE
RBS reshapes offerings
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) said on Sunday it is winding down its interest-rate trading business as capital and operating costs increase. RBS cited “increasing level of capital, operating costs and investment that would be required for business to be globally competitive in a market with extremely thin margins,” as the reason for winding down its rates prime broking and rates OTC clearing businesses. RBS’ prime broking business provides clients with margin consolidation and credit efficiency services, while its rates OTC clearing unit aids customers in clearing interest rates contracts that relate to over-the-counter transactions.
BANKING
Deutsche Bank raises capital
Deutsche Bank says it is raising 8 billion euros (US$11 billion) in new capital from investors to strengthen its finances as it faces tighter regulation and seeks to invest in promising business areas. The bank says it plans to raise 6.3 billion euros in a rights offering and has already secured 1.75 billion euros by placing shares with a single investor from Qatar. Co-CEO Anshu Jain told analysts yesterday that the fresh capital would also help it meet “unforeseen challenges” that may be ahead. The move would increase the bank’s capital ratio, a key measure of financial strength, to 11.8 percent. That is well beyond the bank’s 10 percent goal.
REAL ESTATE
British bidding war for mall
Three British retail property groups are among bidders eyeing a stake in Bluewater Shopping Centre in Kent for a bid amount of £600 million (US$1 billion), The Times reported. British groups Land Securities Group PLC, British Land Company PLC in partnership with Norges Bank, and Hammerson PLC are understood to be the final bidders for the stake, the British daily said. Australia’s Westfield Group and the sovereign wealth fund of Norway are also thought to be finalists, the Times said.
MERGERS
Siemens readies energy bid
Germany’s Siemens AG is working on a formal asset-swap offer for Alstom SA’s power business that could come as early as this week and see France take a stake in a resulting rail-focused French group, sources close to the talks told Reuters. Alstom is already in talks with US conglomerate General Electric Co (GE) over a 12.35 billion euro bid for its power arm, which it is due to review by June 2. However, under strong political pressure, it has opened its books to Siemens so it can propose its own deal if it wants to. Moreover, a rival offer would give the French government more leverage with GE after it gave itself the power to block foreign takeovers in “strategic sectors.”
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
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
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure