About 300 Idee Department Store (
Protesters opposed the impounding of the Idee brand name by the company's major creditor, Mega International Commercial Bank (兆豐銀行), which would make it difficult for the retailer to transfer its ownership to potential buyers, a company representative said yesterday.
China Rebar Co (
PHOTO: CHO YI-CHUN, TAIPEI TIMES
"China Rebar paid a total of NT$1.6 billion between 1999 and 2006 to its debtor, Mega Bank. As China Rebar's Tungshan River Concrete Factory (冬山河水泥廠) in Ilan was pledged as collateral to Mega Bank and is set to be sold for NT$3 billion. These sums together total NT$4.6 billion, far in excess of the NT$3.75 that China Rebar originally borrowed from Mega Bank," Kris Mao (毛幼銘), manager of the sales and promotion department at Idee, said yesterday.
"Mega bank made a filing with the district court on Nov. 6 to impound Idee's brand name, which blocked the possibility of the transfer of Idee's ownership to potential buyers," Mao said, adding the uncertainty over the company's future had affected the lives of Idee's 2,000 employees.
"Our wish is to transfer ownership of the department store to another business for a good price, so that the stores can continue operating without the risk of their becoming another Alexander," Liu Chih-kao (
China Rebar held its first public auction of Idee Department Store on Nov. 26, with a floor price of NT$1.8 billion. Although three potential buyers had expressed an interest prior to the auction, only Shinkong Synthetic Fibers Corp (新光合成纖維) made a bid of NT$705 million, agreeing to be responsible for no less than 10 percent of the debt that Idee owed, Rebecca Ou-yang (歐陽翎), manager of the public relations department at Idee, said in a telephone interview yesterday.
"Although the price that Shinkong offered was lower than the reserve price, the main reason the auction failed was that less than half of the shareholders attended the board meeting," Ou-yang said.
Zhang Yazhou was sitting in the passenger seat of her Tesla Model 3 when she said she heard her father’s panicked voice: The brakes do not work. Approaching a red light, her father swerved around two cars before plowing into a sport utility vehicle and a sedan, and crashing into a large concrete barrier. Stunned, Zhang gazed at the deflating airbag in front of her. She could never have imagined what was to come: Tesla Inc sued her for defamation for complaining publicly about the vehicles brakes — and won. A Chinese court ordered Zhang to pay more than US$23,000 in
‘LEGACY CHIPS’: Chinese companies have dramatically increased mature chip production capacity, but the West’s drive for secure supply chains offers a lifeline for Taiwan When Powerchip Technology Corp (力晶科技) entered a deal with the eastern Chinese city of Hefei in 2015 to set up a new chip foundry, it hoped the move would help provide better access to the promising Chinese market. However, nine years later, that Chinese foundry, Nexchip Semiconductor Corp (合晶集成), has become one of its biggest rivals in the legacy chip space, leveraging steep discounts after Beijing’s localization call forced Powerchip to give up the once-lucrative business making integrated circuits for Chinese flat panels. Nexchip is among Chinese foundries quickly winning market share in the crucial US$56.3 billion industry of so-called legacy
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday held its first board of directors meeting in the US, at which it did not unveil any new US investments despite mounting tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Trump has threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, prompting market speculation that TSMC might consider boosting its chip capacity in the US or ramping up production of advanced chips such as those using a 2-nanometer technology process at its Arizona fabs ahead of schedule. Speculation also swirled that the chipmaker might consider building its own advanced packaging capacity in the US as part
‘NO DISRUPTION’: A US trade association said that it was ready to work with the US administration to streamline the program’s requirements and achieve shared goals The White House is seeking to renegotiate US CHIPS and Science Act awards and has signaled delays to some upcoming semiconductor disbursements, two sources familiar with the matter told reporters. The people, along with a third source, said that the new US administration is reviewing the projects awarded under the 2022 law, meant to boost US domestic semiconductor output with US$39 billion in subsidies. Washington plans to renegotiate some of the deals after assessing and changing current requirements, the sources said. The extent of the possible changes and how they would affect agreements already finalized was not immediately clear. It was not known