RIDE-HAILERS
Uber sets Lyft limit
As Lyft Inc was gauging interest from prospective acquirers, executives from Uber Technologies Inc in the past few weeks told investors that the company would not pay more than US$2 billion to purchase its main US ride-hailing competitor, people familiar with the matter said. Uber did not make a formal offer, the people said. Uber had previously considered purchasing Lyft as far back as 2014, and the two San Francisco companies have discussed the prospect informally, one of the people said. Uber chief executive officer Travis Kalanick has privately said that he would not support such a deal because he believes it would face intense regulatory scrutiny, the person said.
CHINA
Diesel exports rebound
Diesel exports last month rebounded to a record level as severe flooding in some parts of the country curbed domestic fuel demand. The country exported 1.53 million tonnes of diesel last month, a 39 percent jump from June and beating the previous record in May, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs yesterday. While outbound gasoline shipments slipped from a record the previous month, they more than doubled from last year to 970,000 tonnes last month. China’s worst flooding since 1998 caused about US$33 billion in economic losses last month, according to London-based insurance broker Aon PLC.
NICARAGUA
Oil spill contaminates coast
A massive refinery fire caused an oil spill that has contaminated sensitive nearby coastal habitat, a non-profit group said. In the aftermath of the refinery fire at the Puma Energy facility on the country’s Pacific coast, oil has slickened nearly 130 hectares of the nearby water and soil, said Victor Campos, director of the Humboldt Center, an environmental group. Meanwhile, authorities on Saturday said they hope to soon have the fire contained at the facility, the Central American nation’s sole oil refinery.
PUERTO RICO
Bondholders seek reprieve
A lawsuit filed on behalf of University of Puerto Rico bondholders is asking a federal court to stop the commonwealth from diverting US$89 million in tuition and fees that are pledged for bond payments. Officials say they need to use the funds earmarked for bond payments to provide essential services amid a deep fiscal crisis. The lawsuit filed on Friday by bond trustee US Bank Trust National Association seeks relief from a new federal law that stays creditor lawsuits. The University of Puerto Rico has US$431.8 million in outstanding bonds and pays US$42.6 million annually.
PETROLEUM
Pacific creditors mull deal
Creditors of Colombia-based oil producer Pacific Exploration and Production Corp are being offered a larger stake in a restructured company under an eleventh-hour bid from a group that includes Mexican investor Fernando Chico Pardo, according to people who back the offer. Under the proposal, affected creditors would receive 60 percent of the equity in a restructured Pacific, compared with 58.2 percent under a plan from Canada’s Catalyst Capital Group, the people said. Pacific on Friday said that the latest restructuring proposal includes US$575 million in debtor-in-possession financing, while the Catalyst bid includes US$500 million in financing.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
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
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure