PATENTS
Ericsson, Apple reach deal
Ericsson AB and Apple Inc settled a legal dispute over mobile-device patents, reaching a licensing agreement and paving the way for cooperation between the two technology-industry giants. The companies reached a global cross-licensing pact and plan to collaborate in multiple technology areas, including 5G development, video network traffic management, and wireless networks, Ericsson said yesterday. Apple is to make an initial payment to Ericsson and then pay royalties as part of the seven-year pact. The companies were entangled in a global licensing battle, with Ericsson claiming the iPhone maker infringed on its patents for technologies fundamental to the way mobile devices communicate. Ericsson said it estimates intellectual-property revenue of 13 billion kronor (US$1.5 billion) to 14 billion kronor this year, including positive effects from the Apple settlement.
IPO
Hotel Lotte seeks listing
Retail conglomerate Lotte Group said its unit Hotel Lotte Co was to submit an application for a public listing in South Korea yesterday, in what could be the nation’s largest public offering in recent years. Lotte Group did not comment on the size or timing of the offering in a statement sent through a text message. The Korea Stock Exchange typically takes 20 to 45 business days to process such applications. Hotel Lotte is seeking to raise 7 trillion won (US$5.9 billion) by selling 20 percent of existing shares and 15 percent new shares, MoneyToday reported in October. The last time a Korean initial public offering (IPO) exceeded US$2 billion was in 2010, when Samsung Life Insurance Co raised US$4.3 billion, data compiled by Bloomberg showed.
OIL
Trafigura expands ties
Trafigura is expanding its ties with Russia’s Rosneft and is likely to become its largest buyer next year when the Swiss commodities trader adds refined products to its already huge purchases of crude oil. Trafigura said it had agreed to purchase additional volumes from Rosneft as of next month, mainly refined products. The company declined to disclose details. Trading sources estimated the total volumes at 20 million tonnes, equal to an entire annual output of two large refineries or enough to meet consumption of a nation, such as Spain, for half a year. “The marketing and supply arrangements cover refined products and were agreed on market terms after a competitive tender process. The transactions are fully compliant with international sanctions and no pre-financing is involved,” a senior Trafigura spokesman said.
ENERGY
Shell, BG takeover vote set
Shareholders of Royal Dutch Shell PLC and BG Group PLC are expected to vote on the companies’ planned combination on Jan. 27 and Jan. 28, approving a deal announced eight months ago. Shell and BG plan to publish shareholder documents as soon as today, the companies said yesterday in a regulatory statement. BG requires a 75 percent vote in favor of the transaction and Shell, 50 percent. Shell, Europe’s largest oil company, won Chinese antitrust approval for its purchase of Reading, England-based BG this month, clearing the last regulatory hurdle for the deal. The takeover, valued at about US$70 billion has come under scrutiny as crude prices slumped below US$40 a barrel amid a global oversupply. About 2,800 jobs, or 3 percent of the total workforce of the two companies, are to be cut after the combination, Shell has said.
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