Ting Hsin International Group (頂新集團), China’s biggest packaged food maker, has acquired a stake of almost 20 percent in Taipei Financial Center Corp (TFCC, 台北金融大樓公司), which owns Taipei 101.
Ting Hsin, which owns Wei Chuan Foods Corp (味全食品) and the instant-noodle brand Master Kong (康師傅), bought 19.51 percent of TFCC’s shares from China Development Financial Holding Corp (中華開發) for NT$3.735 billion (US$113.5 million), or NT$13 per share, a TFCC official said.
TFCC assistant vice president and spokesman Michael Liu (劉家豪) said the two sides inked a deal on Monday night that would make Ting Hsin the company’s largest private shareholder.
The government remains the biggest shareholder, controlling a 40 percent stake in the company. That allows it to have five board director’s seats as well as two independent director’s seats.
Liu said the transaction would not alter the firm’s operations or the makeup of its board.
The Ministry of Finance said it was not in a position to comment on the transfer of private shares. It said the government would seek to retain control of TFCC and appoint its chairman and president.
“Many felt Taipei 101 was not a good investment, so selling the stake for a profit bodes well with the investors,” Sinopac Securities Corp analyst Julie Chu said.
Meanwhile, the committee of the Financial Restructuring Fund (金融重建基金), which owns a 15 percent stake in TFCC, will seek the right time to liquidate its shares, a Financial Supervisory Commission official said yesterday.
Jean Chiu (邱淑貞), the chief secretary of the commission’s banking bureau, said that the fund would not hold any assets for long-term investments.
If the fund is to release the stake, it will hire financial consultants to price the shares in accordance with market conditions, she said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY JOYCE HUANG
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
BULLY TACTICS: Beijing has continued its incursions into Taiwan’s airspace even as Xi Jinping talked about Taiwan being part of the Chinese family and nation China should stop its coercion of Taiwan and respect mainstream public opinion in Taiwan about sovereignty if its expression of goodwill is genuine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. Ministry spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) made the comment in response to media queries about a meeting between former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) the previous day. Ma voiced support for the so-called “1992 consensus,” while Xi said that although the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have “different systems,” this does not change the fact that they are “part of the same country,” and that “external
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source