INTERNET
Snap IPO to raise US$2bn
Snapchat’s corporate parent is seeking to raise more than US$2 billion for the fast-growing social media group in the technology sector’s largest public offering in nearly three years, documents filed on Thursday showed. Outlining the financial details of its initial public offering (IPO), Snap Inc said it expects net proceeds of about US$2 billion. It is to offer 145 million new shares and sell 55 million from existing share owners, with an expected price range of US$14 to US$16, the documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission showed. The listing would value Snap Inc at between US$19.5 billion and US$22.2 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources familiar with the deal. About 158 million people use Snapchat daily, with more than 2.5 billion Snaps created every day, according to the filing. Snapchat has partnerships with dozens of publishers and organizations, including one announced on Thursday by the New York Times. While some analysts say Snap has the potential to challenge Facebook, others say it could end up like Twitter, consistently losing money with its existence as an independent firm in peril.
AUTOMAKERS
Ford to build Mexico plants
Ford Motor Co is sticking with its plan to build two new factories in Mexico, despite an announcement last month that it had scrapped plans for a plant in the central state of San Luis Potosi. The US firm said a planned factory in the central state of Guanajuato would build engines and transmissions, while another in the northern city of Chihuahua would make parts for use by Ford factories in the US, South America and Asia. The two facilities are to cost about US$2.5 billion and employ about 3,800 people, Ford Mexico president and chief executive Gabriel Lopez said. Ford without warning last month canceled plans to build a US$1.6 billion project in San Luis Potosi.
SHIPPING
Axe falls on Hanjin Shipping
The axe finally fell on South Korea’s once-mighty Hanjin Shipping Co yesterday as a Seoul court declared it bankrupt after struggling for years under the weight of billions of US dollars of debt. Hanjin filed for bankruptcy protection in August last year owing US$5.37 billion as creditors refused to bail it out, with dozens of its vessels stranded outside around the world as they were refused entry to ports. “We will try to ensure that the bankruptcy process would enable the firm to pay off debts to all debt-holders in a fair and proper fashion,” the court said in a statement. Trading in the firm’s shares was suspended yesterday.
INTERNET
Portugal Airbnb use doubles
Use of Airbnb nearly doubled in Portugal last year, the home rentals Web site said on Thursday, as record tourist numbers flocked to the nation — some driven away from other sun spots by security fears. A record 1.65 million guests stayed in properties listed by Airbnb Inc in Portugal last year, up from 912,000 in 2015, the company said, with the capital Lisbon accounting for the bulk of the bookings. Founded in 2008 in San Francisco, Airbnb has become a popular alternative to hotels worldwide, allowing homeowners to rent out their properties by marketing them online for a fee. Under an agreement reached with the Lisbon City Government, Airbnb in May last year began charging guests in the Portuguese capital a “tourist tax” of one euro per night. The tax has so far generated 1.74 million euros (US$1.84 million) which city authorities are to use to develop local tourism projects, the statement 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
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