Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) is asking to scale back its investment in financially troubled Sharp Corp by ¥100 billion (US$893 million) amid concerns over the Japanese firm’s contingent liabilities and bottom line, Japan’s Jiji Press said yesterday.
The report said that Sharp is scheduled to hold a board meeting later this month to discuss Hon Hai’s request, adding that the Japanese firm has been leaning toward the new proposal by the potential Taiwanese suitor to cut its investment by ¥100 billion from the previously planned ¥489 billion.
Through the investment, Hon Hai aimed to acquire a 65.9 percent stake in Sharp.
The Jiji Press said that Sharp has been anxious to cut a final deal with Hon Hai for a bailout as soon as possible as the ailing Japanese firm is desperate to refinance its massive debit with its major creditors, Mizuho Financial Group Inc and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc.
The report said that Hon Hai had previously requested to cut its investment in Sharp by as much as ¥200 billion during their bilateral talks in Taiwan earlier this month, and backed off from its earlier promise to place a ¥100 billion deposit as a guarantee to ensure the deal would go through.
However, the two major banks are vexed by the proposed ¥200 billion cut in investment as the deep cut would make Hon Hai’s offer even lower than ¥300 billion proposed by INCJ, the report said.
Therefore, the report said that Hon Hai has decided to lower its investment by ¥100 billion and keep its promise to place a ¥100 billion deposit to guarantee the deal.
In addition, Hon Hai has agreed to buy ¥100 billion worth of preferred stock issued by Sharp to its creditors.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
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],”