■ Medical Supplies
Biomet draws better offer
An improved offer to buy Biomet Inc may provide enough incentive to seal a deal initially rejected by a major shareholder and a couple of shareholder-advisory firms. The maker of orthopedic products announced on Thursday that a private equity consortium had increased its bid by 4.5 percent from US$10.9 billion to US$11.4 billion. The new offer is for US$46 a share, up from US$44 a share. The consortium includes Biomet founder and former chief executive Dane Miller and affiliates of the Blackstone Group, Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co and TPG.
■ Building Materials
Cemex now the largest
Mexican cement giant Cemex SA became the world's largest supplier of building materials after it won a majority stake in Australia's Rinker Group Ltd, overcoming concerns of potential market dominance in the US. Cemex announced on Thursday it had won acceptance of its US$14.25 billion takeover bid from shareholders representing 50.34 percent of Rinker stock. The acquisition of Rinker will boost Cemex's annual sales of about US$18.2 billion by some US$5 billion, putting it ahead of France's LaFarge, generally considered the largest building materials company with US$21.4 billion a year in sales.
■ Telecoms
Former chief pleads guilty
A former top executive for the Latin American arm of French telecommunications giant Alcatel-Lucent has pleaded guilty to funneling millions of US dollars in bribes to Costa Rican officials to win a lucrative contract. Christian Sapsizian pleaded guilty on Thursday in US District Court in Miami to two counts, conspiracy and violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. As part of his plea, Sapsizian has agreed to cooperate with law enforcement authorities in their ongoing investigation. Sapsizian faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, a US$250,000 fine and US$330,000 in forfeiture when sentenced on Dec. 20.
■ Investing
Warburg to enter China
Private equity investor Warburg Pincus plans to enter China's booming furniture market by spending more than US$190 million on a stake in the country's largest furniture chain, state media said yesterday. The leading US-based private equity firm is in final-stage talks to buy about 20 percent of Red Star Furniture Group for as much as 1.5 billion yuan (US$196 million), the China Securities Journal reported. The deal, if finalized, will overtake a US$125 million investment the US investor made last year in Gome Electrical Appliances Holdings Ltd (國美電器), China's No. 1 home appliance chain.
■ Corruption
Asia fraud harmful: survey
US companies in Southeast Asia say corruption is a "major impediment" to doing business in the region except in Singapore, a survey of US businesses released yesterday said. But the survey of senior executives in US companies in six Southeast Asian countries also showed US businesses were confident of growth in the region, a statement from the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore said. The companies surveyed were in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, the statement said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique