■ TAKEOVERS
United Test buyout likely
Private equity firms TPG Capital LLP and Affinity Equity Partners are likely to succeed in their S$2.2 billion (US$1.5 billion) bid for Singapore chip tester United Test and Assembly Center Lt (UTAC), a media report said yesterday. Shareholders who had previously opposed the deal have recently indicated their approval through proxy votes to be counted after a shareholder meeting today when the deal will be considered, Dow Jones Newswires reported.
■ INTERNET
Google not in clear yet
Australia's consumer watchdog yesterday agreed to drop legal action against two Google subsidiaries, but vowed to pursue the Internet giant's parent company for allegedly misleading Web users. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) launched a legal action alleging that Google Inc, Google Australia, Google Ireland and the magazine Trading Post misled Web users by misidentifying sponsored links. The regulator agreed in the Federal Court in Sydney yesterday to drop Google's Irish and Australian subsiduaries from the action. The ACCC alleges Google failed to distinguish between paid advertisements and "organic" results generated by the search engine.
■ Banking
Bank to merge subsidiaries
US investment bank Bear Stearns said on Wednesday it was merging two mortgage subsidiaries and cutting 310 jobs to better deal with market conditions related to the ailing housing sector. In the year to date, Bear Stearns has slashed its workforce in mortgage businesses by 40 percent in moves to weather a broader credit crunch stemming from a crisis in the subprime mortgage sector. Bear Stearns said the merger of Bear Stearns Residential Mortgage and Encore Credit into a single unit "will allow the firm to right-size the business to current market conditions and increase efficiency."
■ Computing
EU starts IBM probe
The European Commission on Wednesday announced an in-depth probe into US computer giant IBM's proposed takeover of Swedish software firm Telelogic, fearing it could harm competition in the software sector. "Both IBM and Telelogic are active in the market for software development tools," the Commission, the EU's competition regulator, said in a statement. Preliminary investigations found that the proposed US$745 million takeover bid raises "serious doubts ... given the strong market position that IBM would achieve for certain types of software development tools, in particular so-called `software modelling and requirements management' tools," the EU's executive arm said.
■ Telecoms
Firms link up for Linux
ARM Holdings, Texas Instruments, Samsung Electronics and four other companies will work together to develop Linux-based software that makes it easier for mobile phones to access the Internet. The programs will be given to developers and used by makers of phones and electronics based on ARM processors, ARM said yesterday in a statement. The companies will use the Linux operating system and other open-source technology to create the software for developers, letting programmers bring video, graphics and Internet features to large-screen mobile devices.
Agencies";
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
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