■ENERGY
Mirant and RRI merging
Energy providers Mirant Corp and RRI Energy Inc said on Sunday they were combining in a US$1.61 billion stock-swap deal, renaming the company and creating a utility powerhouse that will become one of the US’ largest independent power producers. The combined company, which will have a market capitalization of about US$3.1 billion, will be called GenOn Energy. It will bring together roughly 24,650 megawatts of electric generating capacity, operations from coast to coast and have total revenue of US$4.13 billion, based on last year’s figures. GenOn will be led by Mirant chairman and CEO Edward Muller until 2013, when he will retire and the top post will be taken by Mark Jacobs, RRI Energy’s current president and CEO. Jacobs will serve as GenOn’s president, chief operating officer and a director until that time.
■AUTOMOBILES
GM China sales may top 2m
General Motors Co (GM) said yesterday demand in China was so strong that annual sales could top 2 million vehicles this year — four years ahead of schedule — and could exceed 3 million by 2015. “We already have an incredible focus on China and we’re going to put as much energy as we can on China,” said Kevin Wale, president and managing director for GM China Group. GM’s China sales jumped 68 percent last month over a year earlier to a monthly record of 230,048 vehicles, propelling a 71 percent surge in first-quarter sales to 623,546 units. In the lackluster US market, GM’s sales last month were 188,546, 20 percent lower than China’s.
■JAPAN
Economy recovering: official
Finance Minister Naoto Kan said yesterday the nation was making a solid recovery but faced problems from deflation and debt. “In the seven months of the Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama administration, you cannot deny the fact that the fiscal and economic situation is improving if you look at the results,” Kan said in a speech at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan, but added that deflation and the government’s growing debt posed threats to the economy. Kan, who also serves as deputy prime minister, said the administration needed not only to fulfill campaign promises but also to develop a long-term growth strategy.
■SOFTWARE
Adobe launches new suite
Pent-up demand is expected to boost sales of the newest installment of Adobe’s Creative Suite, the company’s flagship software package aimed at professional designers and developers that was to be launched yesterday. Bad timing hurt sales of the previous version, which was launched in the heart of the financial crisis of 2008. The latest update aims to make it easier for its users to include interactive elements in their designs. It also includes the Web analytics services of Omniture, which Adobe Systems bought last fall for US$1.8 billion.
■CONGLOMERATES
LG Group going green
LG Group, South Korea’s fourth-largest conglomerate, plans to invest 20 trillion won (US$18 billion) by 2020 to cut the group’s greenhouse-gas emissions and develop energy-saving products. The investment will help reduce emissions by 50 million tonnes a year by 2020, Seoul-based LG said in a statement yesterday, without giving its current output of gases including carbon dioxide blamed for global warming. South Korea, Asia’s fourth-largest polluter, plans to cut emissions by 30 percent by 2020.
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
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
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