MANUFACTURING
Sumeeko to buy Max Mothes
Sumeeko Industries Co Ltd (世德工業), which supplies fasteners for major automakers such as General Motors Co, yesterday said its board has approved a share purchase deal with Neuss, Germany-based Max Mothes GmbH. Sumeeko plans to spend 6.5 million euros (US$7.5 million) to acquire a 51 percent stake in Max Mothes, which manufactures and supplies screws, swivels and fasteners. The companies are scheduled to close the deal next month, Sumeeko chief financial officer Yan Pin (顏蘋) said. Kaohsiung-based Sumeeko expects its first overseas acquisition to help it strengthen its foothold in Europe, as Max Mothes also has a presence in Turkey, Austria, Belgium and Italy.
FOOD AND BEVERAGE
TTFB plans to add outlets
Restaurant operator Tai Tong Food & Beverage Group (TTFB, 瓦城泰統集團), whose flagship brands include Thai Town Cuisine (瓦城泰式料理), yesterday said in a statement that it plans to open 11 stores in Taiwan and four in China in the second half of this year. That would boost the number of its Taiwanese and Chinese outlets to 113 and 11 respectively by the end of the year, the statement said. The firm is also to collaborate with international restaurant brands to establish a new subsidiary, which aims to introduce foreign cuisine brands to Taiwanese consumers, TTFB chairman Charles Hsu (徐承義) said in the statement.
AUTOMOTIVE
Hotai to buy stake in Toyota
Hotai Motor Co (和泰汽車), which sells Toyota and Lexus brand vehicles in Taiwan, yesterday said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange that it plans to spend up to ¥22 billion (US$199.6 million) to purchase shares of Toyota Motor Corp. Hotai said it aims to strengthen collaboration with the Japanese auto giant and enhance its competitiveness through the share acquisition. The deal still requires approval from the Investment Commission, the car distributor said.
ACQUISITIONS
Chilisin to acquire Magic
Chilisin Electronics Corp (奇力新), the nation’s largest power inductor manufacturer, on Wednesday announced that it would acquire local peer Magic Technology Co Ltd (美桀) via a stock swap. The firm plans to acquire all Magic shares at a ratio of one Magic share per 0.503 Chilisin shares. The NT$4.06 billion (US$134 million) deal is expected to be completed on Nov. 30 after receiving regulatory approvals and could boost Chilisin’s market share in the global inductor market to about 13 percent — 1 percentage point less than the market share of the top three makers: TDK-EPC Corp (13.42 percent), Murata Manufacturing Co Ltd (13.78 percent) and Taiyo Yuden Co Ltd (13.22 percent). Chilisin shares yesterday closed up 0.29 percent at NT$173.5 and Magic shares rose 9.94 percent higher to NT$79.6 in Taipei trading.
TECHNOLOGY
FII shares continue to fall
Foxconn Industrial Internet Co (FII, 富士康工業互聯網), a subsidiary of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), yesterday saw its shares decline for a fifth straight session on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, closing down 8.51 percent to 18.17 yuan. FII has tumbled more than 30 percent from its peak of 26.36 yuan just a week earlier, wiping out 148.699 billion yuan (US$22.897 trillion) from its market capitalization. The firm, which makes electronics, cloud-computing service equipment and industrial robots, debuted its shares in Shanghai on June 8 at 13.77 yuan. Hon Hai holds an 84.8 percent stake in FII.
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
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
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
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],”