UNITED KINGDOM
Housing price growth slows
Housing price growth slowed this month, according to a survey published yesterday that suggests the recovery in the country’s housing market is advancing at a modest pace. Mortgage lender Nationwide said that housing prices rose by 0.1 percent in monthly terms this month compared with a 0.5 percent increase last month. Economists polled by Reuters had expected 0.5 percent growth this month. It was the weakest performance for monthly changes in house prices since June, Nationwide said. House prices rose 3.7 percent in year-on-year terms, slowing from 3.9 percent for last month.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Merck mulls sale of unit
Merck KGaA is considering a sale of its allergy business as the German company seeks to reduce debt following the US$17 billion takeover of Sigma-Aldrich Corp, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The business, known as Allergopharma, might fetch about 600 million euros (US$636 million) and could attract interest from drug companies and private-equity firms, the people said yesterday. The process is at an early stage and Merck could still decide against a sale, the people said.
SPORTS
Evergrande selling shares
China’s most successful soccer club and newly crowned Asian champions Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao (廣州恆大淘寶) are seeking to raise more than US$400 million as their financial performance fails to match the fireworks on the pitch. The team, universally known as Evergrande, won their second AFC Champions League title in just three years on Saturday last week. However, the club, which is 40 percent owned by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴) and the rest by property developer Evergrande Real Estate Group (恆大地產集團), lost US$75 million last year. It is seeking to raise up to 2.65 billion yuan (US$414 million) by issuing up to 66.2 million shares on China’s little-known National Equities Exchange and Quotations market, it said in a statement.
FINANCE
Therapure IPO planned
Catalyst Capital Group Inc, a Canadian private equity firm, is seeking to raise at least C$100 million (US$75 million) in an initial public offering (IPO) of Therapure Biopharma Inc, according to people familiar with the sale. Catalyst, a Toronto-based firm founded by Newton Glassman, is also weighing an IPO of Gateway Casinos & Entertainment Ltd in the next four to six weeks, one of the sources said. Gateway, which operates in Western Canada, tried to do an IPO in 2012, but it was withdrawn. Therapure is focused on making biopharmaceuticals for customers and on developing, manufacturing and selling its own blood and plasma-related products.
NETHERLANDS
Nation to phase out coal
Lawmakers on Thursday voted in favor of phasing out coal power plants in the nation, appealing to other countries to do the same, days ahead of a crunch UN climate summit. The motion, proposed a week ago by two members of the progressive D66 party, was adopted by a small majority in the 150-seat lower house. Those in favor included the Labour Party, junior partner in the ruling coalition of Liberal Prime Minister Mark Rutte, whose own party is vehemently opposed to the plans. The motion now has to go to the Cabinet for discussion.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last