Stock investors yesterday respon-ded positively to continuing speculation about possible mergers and acquisitions by some of the nation's financial holding companies.
Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控) closed NT$0.1 higher at NT$32.3 and Chinatrust Financial Holding Co (中信金控) rose NT$1.4 to end at NT$34.5, following news that either Fubon or Chinatrust might acquire their smaller rival SinoPac Holdings Co (建華金控) in the near future. SinoPac edged up NT$0.5 to close at NT$18.8.
"SinoPac is on the right track to stress the importance of management integration, not just the [selling] prices, when it comes to merger and acquisition talks," said William Fong (方偉昌), an analyst at Primasia Securities Co, adding that both Fubon and Chinatrust are good choices for SinoPac.
Fong made the comment after a Chinese-language newspaper reported that SinoPac had apparently terminated its merger talks with Cathay Financial Holding Co (
SinoPac could make its final decision between Fubon and Chinatrust within a week, a Chinese-language newspaper reported, without saying where it got the information. SinoPac denied this report.
"No conclusions have yet been reached," SinoPac spokesman Kevin Peng (彭康雄) told the Taipei Times yesterday, saying the company is cautiously ready to merge.
"Since our goal is to reach a merger decision by the first quarter next year, there's no need to rush now," Peng said.
Investors yesterday also respon-ded positively to speculation that a merger deal between First Financial Holding Co (第一金控) and Taishin Financial Holdings Co (
Taishin closed NT$1.00 higher at 25.90 and First Financial stayed at NT$22.70.
"If First Financial acquires Taishin, whose consumer banking business currently takes up a 2.6 percent market share, Taishi should be able to take advantage of First Financial's client and meet its goal of achieving a 5 percent market share in consumer banking businesses," Fong said.
He said he nonetheless believes that Taishin is more likely to resume merger talks with Shin Kong Financial Holdings Co (
Both Taishin and First Financial denied media speculation yester-day. Taishin senior vice president Daniel Tsai (蔡孟峰) told reporters that Taishin "may only take on merger and acquisition activities in two or three years."
In a statement it issued to the Taiwan Stock Exchange, First Financial said that the media reports are not "mature facts."
"The company is still exploring all kinds of possibilities in mergers and acquisitions. No merger deal is slated to be discussed at the board of directors meeting at the end of November or in mid-December," the statement read.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
‘IMMENSE SWAY’: The top 50 companies, based on market cap, shape everything from technology to consumer trends, advisory firm Visual Capitalist said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) was ranked the 10th-most valuable company globally this year, market information advisory firm Visual Capitalist said. TSMC sat on a market cap of about US$915 billion as of Monday last week, making it the 10th-most valuable company in the world and No. 1 in Asia, the publisher said in its “50 Most Valuable Companies in the World” list. Visual Capitalist described TSMC as the world’s largest dedicated semiconductor foundry operator that rolls out chips for major tech names such as US consumer electronics brand Apple Inc, and artificial intelligence (AI) chip designers Nvidia Corp and Advanced
BIG BUCKS: Chairman Wei is expected to receive NT$34.12 million on a proposed NT$5 cash dividend plan, while the National Development Fund would get NT$8.27 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday announced that its board of directors approved US$15.25 billion in capital appropriations for long-term expansion to meet growing demand. The funds are to be used for installing advanced technology and packaging capacity, expanding mature and specialty technology, and constructing fabs with facility systems, TSMC said in a statement. The board also approved a proposal to distribute a NT$5 cash dividend per share, based on first-quarter earnings per share of NT$13.94, it said. That surpasses the NT$4.50 dividend for the fourth quarter of last year. TSMC has said that while it is eager
RSS