Digital China Holdings Ltd (神州數碼), China’s largest IT retailer and services provider, is set to list on the main bourse in Taipei today by issuing Taiwan depositary receipts (TDR) to fund its expansion into China.
The company would offer up to 260 million TDRs at a subscription price of NT$30.20 apiece, with each TDR representing 0.5 common shares of Hong Kong-listed Digital China.
The initial public offering, valued at NT$7.85 billion (US$258 million), is the largest TDR for the year, according to underwriter KGI Securities Co (凱基證券).
Digital China chairman and chief executive Guo Wei (郭為) told a pre-TDR briefing yesterday in Taipei that the company aims to forge a closer partnership with Taiwanese firms, including Acer Inc (宏碁), Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) and HTC Corp (宏達電).
“We are tapping into the capital markets in the Greater China region, especially in Taiwan, where investors are savvier in tech stocks than their Hong Kong peers,” Guo said.
Digital China is an IT products retailing arm spun off from Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想), China’s largest and the world’s fourth-largest PC brand, as of 2000. It has diversified into a provider of IT solutions to governments as well as the telecoms and finance sectors.
Morgan Stanley said in a report on Nov. 11 that it expected Digital China to benefit from growing consumer demand in China’s tier-four to tier-six cities as well as from China’s corporate IT growth. The company currently has 572 retail outlets in rural cities, up from 502 stores in the second quarter.
Morgan Stanley expected the retailer’s IT services business to be driven by its “digital city” project, as well as demand from village banks for core-banking solutions, in which Guo said it could tailor-make solutions for smaller lenders at a much lower cost.
Digital China is currently in talks with 47 Chinese cities and has formed a strategic partnership with more than 130 international firms including IBM Corp, Cisco Systems Inc and Hewlett-Packard Co to bid for future municipal government projects.
These firms will join hands in providing tech solutions for government use, including the much-touted “digital citizen cards,” which would include personal information such as social security and medical insurance details.
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
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
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
RSS