REGULATION
FSC opens new Tatung probe
Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) Chairman Wellington Koo (顧立雄) yesterday said that the commission is verifying new evidence related to a management feud at Tatung Co (大同). The commission has not ruled out taking further action depending on the outcome of the renewed investigation, he said. In May, the commission fined SinoPac Securities (Asia) Ltd (永豐金證券亞洲), a Hong Kong-based brokerage subsidiary of SinoPac Financial Holdings Co (永豐金控), for purchasing shares in Tatung to gain seats on the board of the 99-year-old company on behalf of Chinese financial backers, in violation of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例). The Chinese clients bought an estimated 4 percent stake in Tatung at cost of NT$1 billion (US$33.2 million), the commission said.
BIOTECHNOLOGY
Local firms to merge
Glac Biotech Co Ltd (豐華) yesterday announced that it would merge with Glory Biotech Co Ltd (得榮) in a bid to consolidate the two companies’ efforts at tapping the market for health supplements and probiotics. The deal would see Glac Biotech absorb Glory Biotech through a share swap. The share swap ratio has been tentatively set at 1 Glory Biotech for 0.4 Glac Biotech shares, the companies said. Glac Biotech specializes in upstream aspects of the probiotic supply chain, while Glory Biotech is expected to bring additional production capacity and cost savings to the merged firm as it sets its sights on international markets, the companies said.
AVIATION
CAL, Nordam sign deal
China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空) yesterday inked an agreement with Nordam Group Inc to jointly build a maintenance facility servicing the US-based company’s thrust reversers, as well as other composite material parts. The new facility is to be situated adjacent to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport. The arrangement would help the company fulfill the servicing needs of its fleet and elevate its maintenance capabilities, as well as help the development of the nation’s aviation sector, CAL chairman Ho Nuan-hsuan (何煖軒) said.
CEMENT
TCCI delisting approved
Taiwan Cement Corp (台灣水泥) yesterday said shareholders of its major subsidiary, TCC International Holdings Ltd (TCCI, 台泥國際集團), have approved a proposal to delist the company from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. TCCI would become a fully owned unit of Taiwan Cement and contribute more profit to its parent company after the delisting plan is completed by the end of this year, the firm said. The plan still requires the approval of the Cayman Islands Judicial Administration, Taiwan Cement said in a statement. Incorporated in the Cayman Islands, the subsidiary has 21 cement plants in southern China.
ELECTRONICS
Apple stores to open early
Apple Inc’s premium iPhone 8 series is to be launched in Taiwan on Friday, with several major telecoms planning to open some of their retail stores earlier than usual that day. Taiwan is among the first wave of launch nations for the new iPhones. Apple’s first retail store in Taiwan, in Taipei 101, is to open at 8am on Friday, three hours earlier than usual, and stay open until 10pm, according to the company’s Web site. The store has not revealed any information about any special offers or giveaways for the launch of the new phones.
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
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],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained