Citigroup Inc and UBS AG will manage the sale of state-run China Steel Corp's (中鋼) stake in overseas markets by October after beating eight other investment banks for the deal, an official at the Cabinet's Development Fund (開發基金) said yesterday.
"We're optimistic about the overseas sale after a successful stake auction in the domestic market last week," said Chen Chang-fen (陳嫦芬), a consultant to the fund which organized last week's sale.
The government disposed of 336.8 million China Steel shares in a three-day auction last week, raising NT$8.19 billion.
Although the auction only unloaded 59.9 percent of the shares the government wanted to sell, it was considered successful due to the fact that the selling prices were only a 1.6 percent discount on the company's closing price of NT$24.60 on the TAIEX.
The unsold 233.2 million shares will be repackaged to overseas investors, Chen said.
The company is expected to unload 1.2 billion shares in total to overseas investors through the issuing of global depositary receipts or GDRs, she said.
The Development Fund set set a minimum biding price ranging from NT$24 to NT$24.2 for the domestic auction.
Chen refused to elaborate on the floor price for the upcoming overseas sales, saying the price will depend on the market price at that time.
If the government sells all 1.2 billion shares in the overseas sale, it will then hold just 23.72 percent of the stock in the nation's largest steelmaker, down from 36.28 percent.
Market watchers generally have high expectations for the overseas sale, deeming China Steel a blue chip for the revival of global steel market.
"The blossoming of the steel industry will last to next year at least owing to strong steel demand from China," said Stanley Yeh (
A recent report released by the Industrial Development Bureau noted that the huge demand for steel in China's infrastructure projects has been helping Tai-wanese steelmakers prosper since 1999.
China consumed 211 million tonnes of steel last year, or 25 percent of global steel production, thanks to the rapid growth of its real-estate sector, the report said.
The report further predicted that the demand for steel in China will persist for two to three years because of its growing auto industry. The report estimated that the production of automobiles in China will reach 3.4 million this year.
The report also noted that Taiwan's steel industry is increasingly dependent on the Chinese market.
Of the 20.4 million tonnes of steel exported by Taiwan last year, 56.4 percent was shipped to China, up from 38 percent in 1999.
Taiwanese steel manufacturers also invested up to NT$7.96 billion in China, the report said.
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
Intel Corp yesterday reinforced its determination to strengthen its partnerships with Taiwan’s ecosystem partners including original-electronic-manufacturing (OEM) companies such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電). “Tonight marks a new beginning. We renew our new partnership with Taiwan ecosystem,” Intel new chief executive officer Tan Lip-bu (陳立武) said at a dinner with representatives from the company’s local partners, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the US chip giant’s presence in Taiwan. Tan took the reins at Intel six weeks ago aiming to reform the chipmaker and revive its past glory. This is the first time Tan
CUSTOMERS’ BURDEN: TSMC already has operations in the US and is a foundry, so any tariff increase would mostly affect US customers, not the company, the minister said Taiwanese manufacturers are “not afraid” of US tariffs, but are concerned about being affected more heavily than regional economic competitors Japan and South Korea, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said. “Taiwan has many advantages that other countries do not have, the most notable of which is its semiconductor ecosystem,” Kuo said. The US “must rely on Taiwan” to boost its microchip manufacturing capacities, Kuo said in an interview ahead of his one-year anniversary in office tomorrow. Taiwan has submitted a position paper under Section 232 of the US Trade Expansion Act to explain the “complementary relationship” between Taiwan and the US
RSS