WINE
Kroenke buys old vineyard
A prestigious French vineyard that has been family-run for two centuries has been bought out by US sports billionaire Stanley Kroenke, the largest shareholder in Arsenal soccer team, French media reported on Wednesday. Kroenke, whose sporting empire includes American football team the Los Angeles Rams and basketball’s Denver Nuggets, has bought a majority share in Bonneau du Martray, a history-soaked wine grower in France’s Burgundy region, business newspaper Les Echos reported. The newspaper did not reveal the price of the buyout, and the family which owns the site, the Le Bault de la Morinieres, could not be reached on Wednesday evening.
BANKING
Swiss charged over 1MDB
A Swiss banker was charged in Singapore on Thursday with money laundering and other offenses related to an international corruption scandal involving neighboring Malaysia’s state fund 1MDB. Jens Fred Sturzenegger, 42, who headed the Singapore branch of Swiss lender Falcon Private Bank, was slapped with six charges for allegedly failing to report suspicious transactions totaling US$1.7 billion in March 2013. He also faces 10 charges of giving false information to Singapore authorities in relation to their investigation into the use of the city-state’s banking system as a conduit for the transfer of illicit funds involving 1MDB.
SMARTPHONES
Xiaomi resurgent in India
Xiaomi Corp (小米) surpassed US$1 billion in annual India revenue two years after selling its first smartphone in the country, as Chinese names begin to dominate the world’s fastest-growing major market at the expense of local players. Xiaomi said it grew shipments by almost 150 percent last year, selling 2 million smartphones in the third quarter alone. The company had focused on India since failing to meet sales targets and dropping to No. 4 in a home market it once led. Xiaomi assembles over three-quarters of its Indian smartphones in the country under the government’s “Make in India” program.
RETAIL
Macy’s to cut 10,000 jobs
Macy’s Inc said on Wednesday that it is eliminating more than 10,000 jobs and plans to move forward with 68 store closures after a disappointing holiday shopping season. The department store chain said sales at its established stores fell 2.1 percent in November and last month compared with the same period last year. The retailer pointed to changing consumer behavior and said its performance reflects the challenges that are facing much of the retail industry. The 68 store closures, which span the nation, are part of the 100 closings Macy’s announced in August. Of the 68, three were closed by the middle of last year, 63 will close in the spring and two will be closed by the middle of this year.
INVESTMENT
Group seeks acquisitions
Investment Holding Group, which plans to sell shares on the Qatar Stock Exchange through an offering that opens next week, is seeking acquisitions that will lift earnings even if sales continue to decline. The company will either borrow or issue additional stock to buy new businesses because all of the proceeds from the initial public offering is going to the firm’s founders, chief executive officer Wael Shtayyeh said on Wednesday. Investment Holding Group is selling 60 percent of its equity to local investors in a sale valued at 490.8 million riyals (US$135 million).
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