■FINANCE
Goldman to bid for iShares
Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs is working on a bid for iShares, the asset management business being auctioned by British bank Barclays, newspaper reports said yesterday. The Financial Times said the business could be valued at up to US$6.5 billion, while the Daily Telegraph put the figure at US$5 billion. Other bidders include Bain Capital and a consortium led by buy-out firm Hellman & Friedman, they said. Barclays has fared better in the financial crisis than many of its British banking rivals, but said on March 16 it had approached “a number of potentially interested parties” about selling iShares.
■ELECTRONICS
Sanyo predicts loss
Japan’s Sanyo Electric Co said yesterday it expected a loss in the financial year ending this month, scrapping an earlier forecast that it would break even. Sanyo, which is being bought by its bigger rival Panasonic Corp, blamed the worse-than-expected performance on the cost of restructuring its businesses, in particular the ailing semiconductor division. The company now expects an annual net loss of ¥90 billion (US$918 million), compared with an earlier forecast of zero profits. It sees an operating loss of ¥30 billion, against an earlier projection of a ¥30 billion profit.
■ENERGY
Suncor to buy Petro-Canada
Suncor Energy Inc will acquire Petro-Canada for C$19.12 billion (US$15.5 billion), uniting two of Canada’s biggest oil companies as the nation’s energy industry retrenches. If the deal announced on Monday is approved, the combined company would be the largest oil company in Canada and have a market capitalization of about C$48 billion. That’s much smaller than global heavyweights such as Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips, which boast market capitalizations of US$326.6 billion and US$55.97 billion respectively, but the company would have some of the same benefits of scale.
■TRADE
South Korea, EU reach deal
South Korea and the EU have reached a tentative trade deal after almost two years of talks and will try to settle outstanding issues early next month, the two sides said yesterday. They “reached provisional agreement on almost all pending issues” during negotiations which began on Monday, Seoul’s foreign and trade ministry said in a statement. They failed to reach a deal on some contentious matters such as rules of origin for products, it said, adding final agreement would be sought at trade ministers’ talks in London on April 2. When concluded, the agreement would eliminate some 97 percent of tariffs on bilateral trade over the next five years, EU negotiator Ignacio Garcia Bercero told a press conference.
■MINING
Iron ore prices to drop
Iron ore prices are certain to fall this year, the first decline in seven years, but not by the 50 percent suggested by some steel makers, Rio Tinto said yesterday. “We need to recognise the fundamentals of the market and the market would show that it does need a downward adjustment this year,” Sam Walsh, head of Rio’s iron ore division, said on the sidelines of a mining conference. But given the potential for a recovery in industrial demand at some stage and indications from the spot ore market, prices don’t need to drop by half, Walsh said, breaking a tradition of keeping silent on price issues until talks are concluded.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from