Carlyle Group’s planned sale of a US$1 billion stake in Kbro Co (凱擘) to Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) may be delayed until the government eases restrictions on state ownership of media companies, two people involved with the discussions said.
Taiwan Mobile, which the government partially owns through Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控), could extend the June 30 deadline to buy control of the cable-TV operator, the people said, asking not to be identified because of confidentiality agreements.
Neither side expected the restrictions to obstruct the deal when negotiations began last year, the people said.
RULES
The regulations have undemined Taiwan Mobile’s plans to pass China Network Systems Inc (中嘉網路) and Taiwan Broadband Communications (台灣寬頻) to become the largest operator in a market where more than 80 percent of homes tune in to cable TV.
The National Communications Commission (NCC) is in talks with the Cabinet to allow government-related entities to indirectly own as much as 10 percent of media companies, commissioner Lee Ta-sung (李大嵩) said.
“Under the current situation, they’re not allowed to merge because of the restrictions,” Lee said in a phone interview on Thursday.
“We’ve submitted our concept and proposal, and are now negotiating with the Cabinet,” he said.
He declined to say when he expects the rule to be amended because it would require approval from the Cabinet and legislature.
CONTROL
Washington-based Carlyle, the world’s second-largest buyout firm, bought control of Eastern Multimedia (東森媒體科技), which includes the cable TV unit that was renamed Kbro, for US$1.5 billion in 2006.
The Taipei City Government owns 14 percent of Fubon after Taipei Bank, in which it held a 44 percent stake, was acquired by the financial holding company in 2002.
Fubon owns Taiwan Mobile shares through units including Fubon Securities Co (富邦證券), Fubon Life Insurance Co (富邦人壽) and Fubon Insurance Co (富邦產險), the phone company’s Web site says.
INDIRECT
“They didn’t mean to buy a media stake,” Lee said of the Taipei City government’s ownership.
“Most cases are due to indirect investment” by a government entity, he said.
“This is why the NCC is trying to resolve this issue by allowing 10 percent indirect investment, to avoid such accidental cases,” he said.
COMPETITION: AMD, Intel and Qualcomm are unveiling new laptop and desktop parts in Las Vegas, arguing their technologies provide the best performance for AI workloads Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD), the second-biggest maker of computer processors, said its chips are to be used by Dell Technologies Inc for the first time in PCs sold to businesses. The chipmaker unveiled new processors it says would make AMD-based PCs the best at running artificial intelligence (AI) software. Dell has decided to use the chips in some of its computers aimed at business customers, AMD executives said at CES in Las Vegas on Monday. Dell’s embrace of AMD for corporate PCs — it already uses the chipmaker for consumer devices — is another blow for Intel Corp as the company
ADVANCED: Previously, Taiwanese chip companies were restricted from building overseas fabs with technology less than two generations behind domestic factories Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), a major chip supplier to Nvidia Corp, would no longer be restricted from investing in next-generation 2-nanometer chip production in the US, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. However, the ministry added that the world’s biggest contract chipmaker would not be making any reckless decisions, given the weight of its up to US$30 billion investment. To safeguard Taiwan’s chip technology advantages, the government has barred local chipmakers from making chips using more advanced technologies at their overseas factories, in China particularly. Chipmakers were previously only allowed to produce chips using less advanced technologies, specifically
MediaTek Inc (聯發科) yesterday said it is teaming up with Nvidia Corp to develop a new chip for artificial intelligence (AI) supercomputers that uses architecture licensed from Arm Holdings PLC. The new product is targeting AI researchers, data scientists and students rather than the mass PC market, the company said. The announcement comes as MediaTek makes efforts to add AI capabilities to its Dimensity chips for smartphones and tablets, Genio family for the Internet of Things devices, Pentonic series of smart TVs, Kompanio line of Arm-based Chromebooks, along with the Dimensity auto platform for vehicles. MeidaTek, the world’s largest chip designer for smartphones
BRAVE NEW WORLD: Nvidia believes that AI would fuel a new industrial revolution and would ‘do whatever we can’ to guide US AI policy, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp cofounder and chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Tuesday said he is ready to meet US president-elect Donald Trump and offer his help to the incoming administration. “I’d be delighted to go see him and congratulate him, and do whatever we can to make this administration succeed,” Huang said in an interview with Bloomberg Television, adding that he has not been invited to visit Trump’s home base at Mar-a-Lago in Florida yet. As head of the world’s most valuable chipmaker, Huang has an opportunity to help steer the administration’s artificial intelligence (AI) policy at a moment of rapid change.
RSS