■HEALTHCARE
Crucell in sale talks
Crucell NV, the Leiden-based biotech company, says it is in advanced talks to be acquired by Johnson & Johnson of the US, the world’s largest health care products maker. Crucell says Johnson & Johnson, which already owns a 17.9 percent stake in the Dutch company, will offer about 1.75 billion euros (US$2.29 billion) in cash for the remainder of Crucell, or 24.75 euros per share. That’s a 58 percent premium to Crucell’s closing price on Thursday of 15.70 euros. Crucell makes vaccines and sells a line of cells widely used as a platform for developing vaccines.
■TECHNOLOGY
Oracle revenues jump 48%
Oracle Corp on Thursday reported that its recent quarter profit climbed to US$1.35 billion as revenues rocketed 48 percent to US$7.5 billion. Profit for the quarter that ended Aug. 31 amounted to US$0.27 per share of stock, 18 percent more than was seen in the same quarter a year earlier. Freshly hired Oracle president Mark Hurd predicted that the money-making momentum would continue with the company next week unveiling two new high-end business computer systems.
■TELECOMS
TDC to sell Swiss unit
Danish telecom group TDC said yesterday it had agreed to sell its Swiss offshoot Sunrise to private equity firm CVC Capital Partners for 3.3 billion Swiss francs (US$3.3 billion). “Today CVC and TDC have signed an agreement on selling TDC’s Swiss subsidiary Sunrise to the private equity firm CVC,” TDC said in a statement. The deal should be completed in the fourth quarter, it said.
■COMPUTERS
Dell counting on China
Dell Inc is making a US$100 billion bet that China will remain one of the fastest-growing markets for personal computers over the next decade. Dell said on Thursday it plans to open a manufacturing, sales and service center in Chengdu next year that could eventually employ more than 3,000 workers. The new operations center is a response to rapid growth in business in Western China, Dell said.
■AVIATION
Cebu Pacific to sell shares
Philippine budget carrier Cebu Pacific is aiming to raise up to US$725 million to buy new aircraft when it lists almost a third of its shares next month, the country’s stock exchange said yesterday. The airline’s holding company, conglomerate JG Summit Holdings, has applied to sell about 32.19 billion pesos (US$725 million), or 31 percent, worth of its shares starting on Oct. 8. It said 70 percent of those shares have been put aside for sale in the US as it prepares for a roadshow at the end of this month, while the rest is to be offered to local investors. Cebu Pacific began flying in 1996. It planned to publicly list in 2008, but the global financial crisis forced it to temporarily shelve the idea.
■ECONOMY
FedEx cutting 1,700 US jobs
FedEx Corp said on Thursday that the global economic recovery remains uneven. While strength in international shipments is boosting net income, FedEx is cutting 1,700 jobs in its US freight business to offset losses there. The world’s second-largest package delivery company earned or US$1.20 per share in the fiscal first-quarter that ended last month, compared with US$181 million, or US$0.58 per share a year ago. Revenue rose 18 percent to US$9.46 billion. Projections for the second quarter and full year fell shy of Wall Street expectations.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
NOVEL METHODS: The PLA has adopted new approaches and recently conducted three combat readiness drills at night which included aircraft and ships, an official said Taiwan is monitoring China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) exercises for changes in their size or pattern as the nation prepares for president-elect William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comment at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, in response to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu’s (王定宇) questions. China continues to employ a carrot-and-stick approach, in which it applies pressure with “gray zone” tactics, while attempting to entice Taiwanese with perks, Tsai said. These actions aim to help Beijing look like it has
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,