■ LEISURE
Hasbro to buy Cranium
The maker of Monopoly is adding to its empire of board games. Hasbro Inc, the world's second-largest toy company, has agreed to buy privately held game maker Cranium Inc. for about US$77.5 million, the companies said on Friday. Pawtucket-based Hasbro owns the board game brands Parker Brothers and Milton Bradley, which make perennially popular games including Scrabble, Clue and Battleship as well as Monopoly. Cranium, based in Seattle, is best known for its Cranium board game, which requires players to hum, draw or sculpt their way to the top.
■ TRANSPORTATION
China's airports get lift
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is to lend and invest a total of US$214 million in China's airports, its first foray into the sector, the Manila-based financial institution announced yesterday. The move is part of a project to develop the economy in China's western region and mobilize private sector funding for its airports so that local governments can channel funding into social welfare programs, the ADB said. The ADB will make a US$50 million equity investment in HNA Airport Holding Group Co Ltd, a private company primarily involved in the privatization of China's airports. The ADB will also extend a loan of US$164 million to the project, with risk participation from international banks.
■ RETAIL
Shops to open at ground zero
The owner of the World Trade Center site is teaming up with an Australian retailer to develop upscale stores and restaurants in the new office towers being built at the ground zero site of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey approved the US$1.45 billion deal on Friday with The Westfield Group, one of the world's largest mall operators. The Sydney, Australia-based retailer will contribute US$625 million and the Port Authority $825 million to build high-end stores and restaurants, half of them facing city streets that are being resurrected at the former superblock complex.
■ SUBPRIME CRISIS
Fed to auction more funds
The Federal Reserve announced on Friday that it is increasing the amount of money available to US banks through the new auction process it created to ease the severe credit squeeze. The Fed again pledged to continue the auctions "for as long as necessary." The Fed said that it will increase the amount offered at each of the next two auctions from US$20 billion to US$30 billion, a 50 percent jump. Those two auctions will be Jan. 14 and Jan. 28. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues decided to try the auction approach because banks had feared accepting direct injections would carry a stigma that would raise doubts among investors about the soundness of institutions using the discount window.
■ ENERGY
India IPO may be largest yet
India's Reliance Power Ltd plans to open its initial public offering of shares next week in what could be the country's largest listing yet, the company said. Reliance Power is a subsidiary of Reliance Energy Ltd and a part of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, a business conglomerate with interests in telecommunications, finance and entertainment. The planned sale of 260 million shares is expected to raise nearly US$3 billion, with shares offered in a price band of 405 rupees (US$10.30) to 450 rupees, company chairman Anil Ambani said on Friday. The IPO opens from Jan. 15 through Jan. 18.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) is reportedly making another pass at Nissan Motor Co, as the Japanese automaker's tie-up with Honda Motor Co falls apart. Nissan shares rose as much as 6 percent after Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported that Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) instructed former Nissan executive Jun Seki to connect with French carmaker Renault SA, which holds about 36 percent of Nissan’s stock. Hon Hai, the Taiwanese iPhone-maker also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), was exploring an investment or buyout of Nissan last year, but backed off in December after the Japanese carmaker penned a deal
SUPPORT: The government said it would help firms deal with supply disruptions, after Trump signed orders imposing tariffs of 25 percent on imports from Canada and Mexico The government pledged to help companies with operations in Mexico, such as iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), shift production lines and investment if needed to deal with higher US tariffs. The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday announced measures to help local firms cope with the US tariff increases on Canada, Mexico, China and other potential areas. The ministry said that it would establish an investment and trade service center in the US to help Taiwanese firms assess the investment environment in different US states, plan supply chain relocation strategies and
WASHINGTON POLICY: Tariffs of 10 percent or more and other new costs are tipped to hit shipments of small parcels, cutting export growth by 1.3 percentage points The decision by US President Donald Trump to ban Chinese companies from using a US tariff loophole would hit tens of billions of dollars of trade and reduce China’s economic growth this year, according to new estimates by economists at Nomura Holdings Inc. According to Nomura’s estimates, last year companies such as Shein (希音) and PDD Holdings Inc’s (拼多多控股) Temu shipped US$46 billion of small parcels to the US to take advantage of the rule that allows items with a declared value under US$800 to enter the US tariff-free. Tariffs of 10 percent or more and other new costs would slash such
SENSOR BUSINESS: The Taiwanese company said that a public tender offer would begin on May 7 through its wholly owned subsidiary Yageo Electronics Japan Yageo Corp (國巨), one of the world’s top three suppliers of passive components, yesterday said it is to launch a tender offer to fully acquire Japan’s Shibaura Electronics Co for up to ￥65.57 billion (US$429.37 million), with an aim to expand its sensor business. The tender offer would be a crucial step for the company to expand its sensor business, Yageo said. Shibaura Electronics is the world’s largest supplier of thermistors, with a market share of 13 percent, research conducted in 2022 by the Japanese firm showed. If a deal goes ahead, it would be the second acquisition of a sensor business since
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