Shan Fu buyout approved
The Fair Trade Commission yesterday approved paper maker Cheng Loong Corp’s (正隆紙業) application to take over a downstream company, Shan Fu Paper Co (山富紙業), saying the deal will not make it more difficult for others to enter the market.
Cheng Loong has only a limited market share in paper for cultural use in Taiwan because 50 percent of the paper sold in the nation comes from abroad, the commission said in a statement. There are also many other companies in the cultural paper business, because the entry barrier is low, the commission said.
The deal is expected to become effective on Jan. 1 next year, said Cheng Loong, which currently has a 7.11 percent stake in Shan Fu.
Cathay Life to acquire US firm
Cathay Life Insurance Co (國泰人壽), the life insurance arm of Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控), yesterday announced it plans to acquire Conning Holdings Corp, a US-based investment management services provider, and all of its subsidiaries for US$240 million.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and might close in the second half of next year to help expand Cathay Financial’s asset management business globally, Cathay Life said.
Conning Holdings, with US$92 billion assets under management, will continue to operate as an independent organization led by the current global management team.
Cathay Life and Connings launched a joint venture, Cathay Conning Asset Management, in Hong Kong in 2012.
Intel wireless charging ‘ready’
Smartphones using Intel Corp’s wireless charging solutions are expected to be made available early next year, with the technology forecast to reach tablets and laptops later next year.
Kumar Chinnaswamy, general manager of wireless charging at Intel Experiences Group, said that the certifications for several smartphones using Intel’s wireless charging solutions are “ready to go” and that these handsets could be launched in the first half of next year.
For devices requiring higher power levels, such as tablets and notebooks, the firm expects Intel solution-based products to be released in the second half of next year, Chinnaswamy told a press briefing at an Intel wireless charging forum in Taipei.
Green Energy posts loss
Green Energy Technology Inc (綠能), the nation’s largest solar wafer maker, yesterday reported a loss of NT$588 million (US$19.12 million) for last quarter, compared with losses of NT$295 million in the previous quarter and losses of NT$475 million a year ago.
The company attributed last quarter’s loss to a decline in average selling prices. The company expects demand to increase this quarter, thanks to growth in solar installations in China.
In the first three quarters of the year, Green Energy lost NT$993 million, an improvement from a loss of NT$1.61 billion in the same period of last year.
Hualien 16th for hotels
Hualien County is among the 25 top destinations for travelers to find the best hotels in the world, hotel booking Web site Agoda.com said on Tuesday.
Hualien was ranked the third place in Asia by the study, behind Hoi An, Vietnam, and Khao Lak, Thailand, while taking 16th in the world, Agoda.com said in a statement.
Overall, Cape Town, South Africa, took first place in the rankings, with its hotels scoring an average of 8.43 out of 10, followed by the Maldives and Zermatt, Switzerland, Agoda.com said.
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
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],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained