ACQUISITIONS
Expedia to buy HomeAway
Travel booking Web site Expedia Inc on Wednesday said it is buying short-term rental marketplace HomeAway Inc for US$3.9 billion to boost its presence in the vacation rental market. The company said it is to pay about US$38.31 in cash and stock for each HomeAway share. Both companies’ boards have approved the deal, which they expect to close next year. HomeAway has more than 1 million paid listings of vacation rental homes in 190 natons. Expedia’s portfolio also includes Hotels.com, Orbitz and Travelocity.
MACROECONOMICS
Yellen signals US rate hike
US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen on Wednesday said an interest rate hike next month is a “live possibility” if the US economy stays on track. Yellen described the economy as “performing well” right now, with solid growth in domestic spending. At their meeting last week, policymakers believed that the threat of global headwinds had ebbed, Yellen said. Meanwhile, US Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley said at a separate appearance on Wednesday that he was in full agreement that December was a “live possibility and we will see what the data shows.”
REAL ESTATE
UK house prices rise 1.1%
British house prices rose last month, according to Halifax, which said a shortage of properties for sale might put further upward pressure on values in the coming months. The average cost of a home gained 1.1 percent from the previous month to £205,240 (US$315,793), the mortgage lender said yesterday. Prices rose 10 percent year-on-year, while they advanced 2.8 percent in the quarter through last month.
MACROECONOMICS
German factory orders slide
German factory orders unexpectedly extended a series of declines in September amid a slump in demand for investment goods in the eurozone, highlighting increasing risks for Europe’s largest economy. Orders, adjusted for seasonal swings and inflation, fell 1.7 percent from August, when they dropped 1.8 percent, Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy data showed yesterday. That is the third consecutive decrease and compares with a median estimate of a 1 percent gain in a Bloomberg survey. Orders declined 1 percent from a year earlier.
RETAIL
Adidas raises sales target
Adidas AG raised its full-year sales and profit targets yesterday as strong demand for its Adidas and Reebok brands powered a strong third-quarter performance. In the July-to-September period, net profit rose by 10.4 percent to 311 million euros (US$338 million). Underlying or operating profit was up 26.5 percent at 505 million euros on a 17.7-percent increase in sales to 4.758 billion euros. The group now expects sales to increase at a high-single-digit rate this year, or between 6 and 9 percent, Adidas said
CREDIT RATINGS
Moody’s cuts VW to ‘A3’
Volkswagen’s credit rating was cut by Moody’s by one notch to “A3” on Wednesday as the toll on the German automaker grew over its cheating on emissions. While Moody’s said Volkswagen had the financial strength to survive what could cost the company many billions of dollars in fines and compensation, it said the company’s reputation and earnings were at risk.
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