World Business Quick Take

■ Banking
First Financial to expand
First Financial Holding Co (第一金控) plans to raise its share of the banking market to 12 percent by buying smaller lenders, A Chinese-language newspaper reported, citing chairman Steve Shieh (謝壽夫). The company, whose main banking unit First Commercial Bank (第一銀行) has a 6 percent market share, is seeking targets with a strong niche in the credit card and consumer loans business, Shieh was quoted as saying. First Financial is more likely to buy a bigger lender such as Taishin Financial Holdings Co (台新銀行), which has 3 percent of the banking market, than a company such as SinoPac Holdings Co (建華金控), which has 1 percent, as it seeks to meet its initial target of a 10 percent market share, Shieh told the newspaper. First Commercial Bank is Taiwan's fourth-largest by assets. Shieh was president of Taishin Financial before being named chairman of state-controlled First Financial in August.

■ Computers
Imaging software advocated
When disaster strikes in the form of a system meltdown, many computer users these days are turning to imaging software. With imaging software, within minutes, users can restore an entire computer system to the exact state it was then when the image was taken, according to the computer magazine c't, which recently tested imaging software as a compliment to backup software. While traditional backup software is usually used to back up personal data files, imaging software secures the operating system, files, and all programs installed on a computer. Imaging software takes a "snapshot" of the system, and when used to restore a personal computer that has failed, can recover the system byte for byte.

■ Automobiles
Renault to buy Ssangyong
Renault SA, France's No. 2 carmaker, plans to buy Ssangyong Motor Co, according to a spokesman for the European manufacturer's South Korean venture, Renault Samsung Motor Co. "Renault Group, which is our largest shareholder, submitted a letter of interest for Ssangyong last week," said Ha Tae Eung, a Renault Samsung spokesman. Renault owns 70 percent of the Korean venture, which makes SM5 and SM3 sedans. Chohung Bank and other creditors of Ssangyong want to pick a buyer for their 55.4 percent stake in the country's fourth-largest automaker by next month as part of a debt-recovery plan. The automaker, based in Pyongtaek city south of Seoul, makes Chairman cars as well as Rexton and Kora-ndo sport-utility vehicles.

■ Electronics
DirecTV sale audited
Hughes Electronics Corp told US agencies it will address concerns about foreign ownership of US communications systems if its proposed sale of DirecTV to News Corp is approved, the Washington Post said. News Corp, based in Australia and controlled by Rupert Murdoch, agreed in April to pay US$6.6 billion for a controlling 34 percent stake in DirecTV, the largest US satellite-television provider. The transaction is subject to clearance by the Justice Department and the FCC. Hughes, a division of General Motors Corp, said the audit committee of Fox Entertainment Group, the News Corp unit that would control DirecTV, would be composed solely of US citizens and would have "exclusive jurisdiction" over policies related to national security.