■ IPO
Bank offering price set
China Construction Bank Corp (中國建設銀行) yesterday priced its US$8 billion initial public offering (IPO) -- the world's biggest this year -- at the high end of the expected range due to strong demand, according to an investment banker familiar with the deal. The bank, the first of China's big state-owned banks to list shares overseas, will begin trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange next Thursday. The offering was priced at HK$2.35 a share (US$0.30) said the source, who asked not to be named because the information was not yet made public. That was at the high end of its expected range of HK$1.90 to HK$2.40, which itself was raised last week due to strong institutional demand for the offering. The bank sold a total of 26.49 billion shares and raised US$8.02 billion, the source said. The retail tranche of the IPO was 42 times oversubscribed, so the percentage of shares to be offered to retail investors would be bumped up to 7.5 percent from 5 percent, the person said.
■ Communications
Windows for phones
Microsoft Corp, Sharp Corp and Willcom Inc will sell the first mobile phone in Japan running on the Windows operating system that will allow document and e-mail downloads from personal computers. Willcom is a Japanese wireless service operator owned by Carlyle Group Inc. Microsoft is bringing its Windows Mobile to Japan after Motorola Inc released a phone in July for NTT DoCoMo that has handheld computer functions and runs on another operating system. "This is our very first step in the Japanese market place with a mobile PC that also has phone capabilities," said Darren Huston, president of Microsoft's Japan unit. "We're in talks with other operators as well to spread Windows Mobile," he said. The W-ZERO3, which operates on Willcom's personal handy phone network, will be priced below ¥50,000 (US$432) when it goes on sale in December, the companies said in a statement.
■ Electronics
Matsushita going small
Matsushita Electric Indus-trial Co started production this month of small-sized chips that would allow the company to make more compact digital devices. Matsushita will begin shipments by the end of the year for the 65-nanometer semiconductors made at its Uozu plant in Toyama prefecture, the company said today. It will produce the chips on 300mm wafers at a rate of 6,500 wafers a month. The new semiconductors would allow Matsushita to make smaller DVD players, flat-panel TVs and other electronics that it sells under the Panasonic brand. ``It's important that we keep our chip investment steady at about ¥80 billion [US$692.7 million] a year, regardless of the economic situation,'' Susumu Koike, head of the company's semiconductor business, said at a news conference in Tokyo.
■ Telecoms
Motorola sues ex-president
Motorola has brought suit against former president Mike Zafirovski, accusing him of breaching agreements by accepting the top job at Nortel Networks Corp. The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday in Chicago, alleges that Zafirovski's new job will mean the use or disclosure of Motorola's trade secrets. Zafirovski, who left Motorola in January after being passed over for the top job there, is to begin with Nortel on Nov. 15. The lawsuit seeks to stop Zafirovski from working for Nortel for two years.
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