FINANCE
No euro finance minister
The creation of a eurozone finance minister is not on the agenda as the bloc tackles its debt troubles, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said in a newspaper interview yesterday. At a meeting in Paris on Tuesday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced plans to create a “true eurozone government.” Schaeuble told Die Welt that it was a government in the sense of a steering committee and not a government in the normal sense of the term. “Without a change to the European treaties, there could not be a European government like you are hearing being spoken about,” he said.
MINING
BHP buys Petrohawk Energy
Mining giant BHP Billiton said yesterday that it had secured a US$12.1 billion takeover of US energy firm Petrohawk Energy Corp and hoped to legally formalize the tie-up “as promptly as practicable.” BHP said it had acquired “and expects to promptly pay for” 97.4 percent of Petrohawk’s outstanding shares in a deal worth US$15.1 billion, including the energy company’s debt. “As the final step of the acquisition process and following payment for all shares ... BHP Billiton expects to effect a short-form merger under Delaware law as promptly as practicable,” BHP said in a statement.
SOFTWARE
Bain takes over MYOB
Bain Capital LLC agreed to buy MYOB Pty Ltd, an Australian business management software maker, for an undisclosed sum to benefit from selling products to faster-growing economies in the Asia-Pacific region. Boston-based Bain will buy a majority stake in MYOB from buyout firms Archer Capital and HarbourVest Partners LLC, the companies said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. The terms of the deal were not released. MYOB was acquired by Archer in 2009 and is Australia’s largest independent software vendor, according to the statement. The acquisition gives Bain a majority stake in MYOB, alongside management who will continue to be shareholders in the company, the statement said.
ENERGY
CPI invests in Guinea
Chinese state-owned energy giant China Power Investment Corp (CPI, 中國電力投資集團) plans to invest US$6 billion to develop bauxite production in Guinea, a senior executive said on Saturday. CPI “intends to invest more than US$6 billion in bauxite production in the Boffa region over the coming years,” vice chairman Yu Dehui (餘德輝) said on Guinean state television. He said the facilities his group plans to build would produce up to 8 million tonnes of bauxite — the main source of aluminum — a year and would employ tens of thousands of Guineans.
AGRICULTURE
Guyana seeks mill help
Guyanan Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud says he is seeking a foreign company to run a malfunctioning US$200 million Chinese-built sugar mill because the country does not have the necessary expertise. Persaud said on Saturday that the factory was supposed to nearly double Guyana’s annual average sugar production to about 500,000 tonnes, but engineering defects and other problems had limited production. The mill is owned by state-owned Guyana Sugar Corp. China’s National Technical Import and Export Corp built the factory and was threatened with fines for missing deadlines and struggling to get production up to full capacity.
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
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
US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose up to 100 percent tariffs on Taiwan’s semiconductor exports to the US to encourage chip manufacturers to move their production facilities to the US, but experts are questioning his strategy, warning it could harm industries on both sides. “I’m very confused and surprised that the Trump administration would try and do this,” Bob O’Donnell, chief analyst and founder of TECHnalysis Research in California, said in an interview with the Central News Agency on Wednesday. “It seems to reflect the fact that they don’t understand how the semiconductor industry really works,” O’Donnell said. Economic sanctions would