■CABLE
Liberty Global buys firm
International cable operator Liberty Global agreed to buy Unitymedia GmbH, the second-largest German cable network company, for an equity purchase price of US$3 billion to expand its European footprint. Along with Unitymedia’s reported net debt at Sept 30 of about US$2.2 billion, the total consideration is about US$5.2 billion excluding transaction costs, the company said in a statement. Unitymedia is owned by a group of shareholders led by BC Partners and Apollo, while Liberty Global is controlled by US cable pioneer John Malone. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of next year.
■JAPAN
FamilyMart buys rival
Japanese convenience store chain operator FamilyMart Co said yesterday it would acquire smaller rival am/pm Japan Co for ¥12 billion (US$130 million) to boost its market share amid sluggish consumer spending. FamilyMart, Japan’s third-largest convenience store chain, will purchase all shares in am/pm from parent company Rex Holdings Co, the company said. FamilyMart plans to absorb am/pm early next year. The merged entity will have 8,700 stores in Japan, compared with 9,700 stores operated by Lawson Inc and 12,500 by 7-Eleven.
■AVIATION
Japan Air posts losses
Struggling carrier Japan Airlines said yesterday it racked up ¥131.2 billion in losses during the first half through September and applied for government help to restructure. The company — Asia’s biggest carrier by revenues — made a ¥36.6 billion profit in the same period a year earlier. Details of its restructuring plan are still being worked but it was working with the government through a “turnaround procedure” that will enlist the assistance of a private operator.
■ENTERTAINMENT
Disney posts earnings jump
The Walt Disney Co posted a surprise 18 percent increase in fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday and announced an executive job switch that might point to an eventual successor to chief executive Robert Iger. Iger, 58, said he was behind the decision to turn chief financial officer Tom Staggs into the parks and resorts chairman, while making parks chairman Jay Rasulo the new CFO. Net income rose to US$895 million, or US$0.47 per share, as revenue at its cable, broadcast and movie studio units rose, more than offsetting declines at its parks and consumer products units.
■GERMANY
Economic activity grows
Germany is well into recovery, with the economy growing for the second quarter and exports, investment and construction leaving recession behind, official data showed yesterday. The German Desatis statistics office said economic activity expanded by a provisional 0.7 percent in the third quarter from the previous three-month period. Germany’s performance was more than twice the figure achieved in key neighbor France which showed growth of 0.3 percent in the quarter.
■BEVERAGES
Suntory buys Orangina
Japanese beverage giant Suntory Holdings said yesterday that it had completed a deal to buy Orangina Schweppes, the European maker of the orange-flavored soft drink, for an undisclosed sum. The Japanese firm had announced a binding offer in September to buy Orangina Schweppes from investment funds Blackstone Group and Lion Capital.
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
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
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