RETAIL
A&F in talks with buyers
Teen clothing chain Abercrombie & Fitch Co (A&F), responding to reports that it was in talks with interested buyers, says it is in preliminary discussions with several parties about a “potential transaction.” The company’s statement on Wednesday that it had received “expressions of interest” came after news reports this week that the New Albany, Ohio-based chain was in talks with at least two possible buyers. Abercrombie & Fitch said it does not plan to comment again until the discussions are concluded. Like other teen fashion retailers, A&F has been hurt by changing teen tastes as they shop online more or prefer fast-fashion purveyors such as H&M or Forever 21. A&F is expected to report its fifth straight quarter of declines at established stores, a key metric, when it releases first-quarter results on May 25. A&F said in its statement that there was “no assurance” the discussions would lead to a definitive agreement or that a transaction would occur.
SPORTING GOODS
Adidas sells golf unit
TaylorMade Golf Co, which has signed Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy to equipment deals this year, has been sold to a private equity firm after being shopped for a year by parent company Adidas AG. The agreement announced on Wednesday means KPS Capital Partners LP will acquire TaylorMade for US$425 million, about half of that paid in cash. Carlsbad, California-based TaylorMade was founded in 1979 by Gary Adams, who specialized in metal woods. Adidas bought the company in 1998. The company has equipment deals with Dustin Johnson, Jason Day and McIlroy, three of the last four players who have been No. 1 in the world ranking. It signed Woods in January, shortly before he stopped playing because of more back problems that led to a fourth surgery.
BANKING
OCBC buys NAB unit
Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC), Southeast Asia’s second-largest lender, agreed to buy National Australia Bank Ltd’s (NAB) wealth management business in Singapore and Hong Kong. Singapore-based OCBC said the business is made up of a mortgage portfolio of about US$1.7 billion and deposits of about US$3.05 billion, it said in a stock exchange filing yesterday. The purchase price is to be determined based on the book value of the NAB unit at the time the transaction is completed, the filing said. The addition of NAB’s loans will increase OCBC’s mortgage portfolio by about 4 percent and the lender will also gain access to about 11,000 new customers, the Singaporean bank’s statement said. The purchase price of the NAB assets will not involve any premium to book value, OCBC said.
AUTOMAKERS
Nissan profit jumps 27%
Japanese automaker Nissan Motor Co’s yesterday said that its annual profit for the year that ended in March improved 27 percent to ¥663.5 billion (US$5.8 billion) as strong sales in the US, China and Europe offset damage from the strong yen. However, it expects a 19 percent drop in profit for the current fiscal year that ends in March next year at ¥535 billion, as research investment and raw material expenses bite into bigger sales and cost-cutting efforts. Sales for last fiscal year dipped nearly 4 percent to ¥11.7 trillion. Nissan, which did not break down quarterly numbers, said it sold 5.63 million vehicles globally last fiscal year. It expects sales to grow to 5.83 million vehicles for this fiscal year.
purpose: Tesla’s CEO sought to meet senior Chinese officials to discuss the rollout of its ‘full self-driving’ software in China and approval to transfer data they had collected Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing yesterday on an unannounced visit, where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of "full self-driving" (FSD) software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Chinese state media reported that he met Premier Li Qiang (李強) in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla's development in China could be regarded as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation. Musk confirmed his meeting with the premier yesterday with a post on social media platform X. "Honored to meet with Premier Li
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV on Friday announced an investment of NT$13.5 billion (US$414.62 million) over the next five years in Taiwan. The first multinational brewing company to operate in Taiwan, Heineken made the statement at a ceremony held at its brewery in Pingtung County. It also outlined its efforts to make the brewery “net zero” by 2030. Heineken has been in the Taiwanese market for 20 years, Heineken Taiwan managing director Jeff Wu (吳建甫) said. With strong support from local consumers, the Dutch brewery decided to transition from sales to manufacturing in the country, Wu said. Heineken assumed majority ownership and management rights
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI