TECHNOLOGY
Apollo buying Shutterfly
Private equity firm Apollo Global Management is buying online photo publishing company Shutterfly for US$51 per share. Apollo is to pay US$1.74 billion for the 20-year-old company, which became popular offering its users prints and photobooks of their favorite shots. However, demand for that type of service has declined as people opt to share photographs online through Facebook and other social networks. Redwood City, California-based Shutterfly’s stock closed at US$50.25 on Monday — and was trading as high as US$94.28 per share a year ago. Ryan O’Hara, the former chief executive officer at real-estate company Move Inc, is to become Shutterfly’s new chief executive.
TECHNOLOGY
Salesforce to buy Tableau
Salesforce.com Inc, which makes the US’ dominant sales-tracking software, agreed to buy Tableau Software Inc in an all-stock deal valued at US$15.3 billion that it said would help give customers more ways to analyze data. The takeover would mark Salesforce’s largest deal to date, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Tableau would remain headquartered in Seattle and would continue to be led by chief executive officer Adam Selipsky. With Tableau, Salesforce would be able to help companies tap into data they have, make smarter decisions and boost innovation, the company said.
RETAIL
Ted Baker shares plunge
Ted Baker PLC shares plunged after warning that markdowns and “extremely difficult trading conditions” would hurt its results, another setback for the UK retailer reeling from a scandal over its founder’s behavior. The apparel chain’s third move to ratchet down expectations this year followed the resignation of founder Ray Kelvin, after allegations that he gave employees unwanted hugs. While the company has moved to improve office conduct, it is succumbing to a broader UK retail crisis that has prompted stores to slash prices in an effort to move unsold goods. The shares fell as much as 30 percent early yesterday in London — the most since they began trading in 1997.
INTERNET
Alibaba picks IPO leaders
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴) has picked China International Capital Corp (中國國際金融) and Credit Suisse Group AG to lead a planned Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO), people familiar with the matter said. The online retailer is in discussions with other investment banks seeking a role on the offering, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Alibaba plans to file a formal listing application with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange as soon as the next few weeks, the people said. The offering could raise as much as US$20 billion, although Alibaba has not finalized a precise fundraising target, they said.
UNITED KINGDOM
S Korea trade deal signed
The government on Monday said that it had concluded a trade deal with South Korea to maintain links after Brexit. Secretary of State for International Trade Liam Fox has agreed a preliminary deal with South Korean Minister of Trade Yoo Myung-Hee in Seoul, the government said in a statement. It is the country’s first post-Brexit trade deal in Asia and follows similar agreements with nations including Chile, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. Trade with South Korea was US$18.6 billion last year. The country is scheduled to leave the EU on Oct. 31.
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],”