Far Eastern Group (
Far Eastern Department Stores Co (
Far Eastern Group, whose operations also include shipping, seeks to use the Hong Kong share listings to avoid government restrictions on investments in China.
"The parent company is rich, but it's hitting the 40 percent limit," Hsu, 66, said at the group's Taipei headquarters. "If the 40 percent roof gets lifted, then the pressure is much less" to list shares overseas.
The group plans to offer an initial share sale of at least one unit a year as it expands in China, Hsu said.
Shares of Far Eastern Department rose 2.3 percent to NT$49.40 at the close of trade in Taipei, reversing an earlier 1.7 percent decline. Trading volume was more than double the stock's 90-day average.
Far Eastern Textile Co (遠東紡織), which owns 17 percent of the Department Stores unit, rebounded from a decline to add 2.7 percent to NT$51.20. The benchmark TAIEX rose 1.9 percent.
"If there's a listing for the subsidiary then there's a positive reaction in its share price," said Michelle Cheng, who rates Far Eastern Department shares a "buy" at BNP Paribas in Taipei. "It helps them get around investment rules."
Asia Cement's share sale in Hong Kong will be delayed until the second quarter from this quarter, Hsu said, citing declining stock markets. It will also trim the size of the sale to US$250 million from an earlier estimate of US$300 million, he said.
"In January and February there was a lot of cancelations because of the markets," Hsu said. "We are slightly late, but not that late."
Demand for new shares is waning in China and Hong Kong after companies raised US$127 billion in the two markets last year. In Hong Kong, the world's third-biggest IPO market last year, three offerings aiming to raise HK$9.4 billion (US$1.2 billion) were pulled this year as the benchmark Hang Seng Index sank.
Far Eastern Department Stores owns the Sogo chain of department stores in Taiwan and the Pacific Department Store group in China. The Taipei-listed unit is around 33 percent owned by Far Eastern Group companies.
A Chinese retail company approached Far Eastern for merger talks with the China department store unit, a move which would derail a listing, Hsu said. He declined to name the potential partner or whether they would proceed with the merger.
Far Eastern Polychem Industries Ltd (
"The GEM didn't quite work," Hsu said. We're "waiting for the chance to relist."
Hsu, chairman of eight companies in the Far Eastern Group, is listed this year at No. 31 on Forbes' rankings of the richest people in Taiwan, Hong Kong and China, with a net worth of US$1.4 billion.
TEMPORARY TRUCE: China has made concessions to ease rare earth trade controls, among others, while Washington holds fire on a 100% tariff on all Chinese goods China is effectively suspending implementation of additional export controls on rare earth metals and terminating investigations targeting US companies in the semiconductor supply chain, the White House announced. The White House on Saturday issued a fact sheet outlining some details of the trade pact agreed to earlier in the week by US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) that aimed to ease tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Under the deal, China is to issue general licenses valid for exports of rare earths, gallium, germanium, antimony and graphite “for the benefit of US end users and their suppliers
Dutch chipmaker Nexperia BV’s China unit yesterday said that it had established sufficient inventories of finished goods and works-in-progress, and that its supply chain remained secure and stable after its parent halted wafer supplies. The Dutch company suspended supplies of wafers to its Chinese assembly plant a week ago, calling it “a direct consequence of the local management’s recent failure to comply with the agreed contractual payment terms,” Reuters reported on Friday last week. Its China unit called Nexperia’s suspension “unilateral” and “extremely irresponsible,” adding that the Dutch parent’s claim about contractual payment was “misleading and highly deceptive,” according to a statement
The Chinese government has issued guidance requiring new data center projects that have received any state funds to only use domestically made artificial intelligence (AI) chips, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. In recent weeks, Chinese regulatory authorities have ordered such data centers that are less than 30 percent complete to remove all installed foreign chips, or cancel plans to purchase them, while projects in a more advanced stage would be decided on a case-by-case basis, the sources said. The move could represent one of China’s most aggressive steps yet to eliminate foreign technology from its critical infrastructure amid a
Nissan Motor Co has agreed to sell its global headquarters in Yokohama for ￥97 billion (US$630 million) to a group sponsored by Taiwanese autoparts maker Minth Group (敏實集團), as the struggling automaker seeks to shore up its financial position. The acquisition is led by a special purchase company managed by KJR Management Ltd, a Japanese real-estate unit of private equity giant KKR & Co, people familiar with the matter said. KJR said it would act as asset manager together with Mizuho Real Estate Management Co. Nissan is undergoing a broad cost-cutting campaign by eliminating jobs and shuttering plants as it grapples
RSS