UAE
Group refinances debt
An indebted business park owned by Dubai’s government says it has received sufficient support from lenders to repay US$2 billion early as part of a broader refinancing effort. Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZ) said in a NASDAQ Dubai statement yesterday that creditors representing about 89 percent of the 7.5 billion dirham sukuk, or Islamic bond, have approved the plan. JAFZ was supposed to repay the debt this November. It sought agreement from lenders to repay it early so it could put a new refinancing plan in place. JAFZ operates a sprawling industrial and logistics park next to Dubai’s Jebel Ali port, the Mideast’s largest.
ENERGY
Gambia looks for oil
Gambia and Camac Energy Inc of the US signed a contract for the exploration and production of oil off the West African country’s coast, state-run media said. The government selected Camac from among three companies shortlisted for drilling rights at Gambia’s A2 and A5 concessions, the oil ministry said in a statement broadcast over state-owned radio and GRTS television. Camac is a Houston-based explorer with operations in Nigeria and, through subsidiaries, in China. The company will work closely with Gambia National Petroleum Corp. and the oil ministry, an unidentified Camac official who signed the agreement said from Lagos, Nigeria.
AUTO PARTS
Delphi seeks big expansion
Delphi, the giant automotive supplier that was once part of General Motors, has offered just under US$1 billion for the major piece of a French company that makes electronic connectors. Delphi said late on Thursday it was close to completing a deal to buy the motorized vehicles division of connectors maker FCI for US$972 million. Delphi said the deal would broaden its customer base and boost its business in Asia, giving it manufacturing and engineering facilities in China, India and South Korea. Delphi was rescued from bankruptcy in 2009 by a consortium of hedge fund and private equity owners, including Paulson & Co, Elliott Associates, Silver Point Capital and Oaktree Capital.
INTERNET
Yahoo kills tablet mag
Yahoo is killing a tablet magazine called “Livestand” just six months after its debut on the iPad. The decision announced on Friday is part of the struggling Internet company’s latest turnaround effort. Last month, Yahoo Inc told analysts it would close or combine about 50 services that have not been performing up to expectations. “Livestand” featured software that could be customized to pull content from Yahoo’s own Web site and other digital publishers to cater to each user’s tastes.
ENERGY
Icahn buys into gas firm
Activist investor Carl Icahn has taken a sizable stake in Chesapeake Energy Corp and is calling for at least four of company’s directors to be replaced. Icahn spent about US$785 million to buy 50.1 million shares, or 7.6 percent, of the US’ second-largest natural gas producer. The billionaire investor’s stock buy was disclosed in a regulatory filing on Friday. It comes as Chesapeake has been hit hard by falling natural gas prices. It is also being criticized for allowing chief executive Aubrey McClendon to borrow money from companies that do business with Chesapeake and allowing him the perk of buying personal stakes in company wells. McClendon gave up his post as chairman on May 1 after reports of his financial dealings were made public.
Taiwan’s technology protection rules prohibits Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) from producing 2-nanometer chips abroad, so the company must keep its most cutting-edge technology at home, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks in response to concerns that TSMC might be forced to produce advanced 2-nanometer chips at its fabs in Arizona ahead of schedule after former US president Donald Trump was re-elected as the next US president on Tuesday. “Since Taiwan has related regulations to protect its own technologies, TSMC cannot produce 2-nanometer chips overseas currently,” Kuo said at a meeting of the legislature’s
GEOPOLITICAL ISSUES? The economics ministry said that political factors should not affect supply chains linking global satellite firms and Taiwanese manufacturers Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) asked Taiwanese suppliers to transfer manufacturing out of Taiwan, leading to some relocating portions of their supply chain, according to sources employed by and close to the equipment makers and corporate documents. A source at a company that is one of the numerous subcontractors that provide components for SpaceX’s Starlink satellite Internet products said that SpaceX asked their manufacturers to produce outside of Taiwan because of geopolitical risks, pushing at least one to move production to Vietnam. A second source who collaborates with Taiwanese satellite component makers in the nation said that suppliers were directly
Top Taiwanese officials yesterday moved to ease concern about the potential fallout of Donald Trump’s return to the White House, making a case that the technology restrictions promised by the former US president against China would outweigh the risks to the island. The prospect of Trump’s victory in this week’s election is a worry for Taipei given the Republican nominee in the past cast doubt over the US commitment to defend it from Beijing. But other policies championed by Trump toward China hold some appeal for Taiwan. National Development Council Minister Paul Liu (劉鏡清) described the proposed technology curbs as potentially having
TALENT FACTOR: The nation’s chip sector would be difficult to replace, but to maintain that advantage, Taiwan must retain skilled workers, an academic said A group of experts on Sunday called on Taiwan to strive to maintain its world-leading position in the semiconductor industry, with a US-China chip dispute expected to continue regardless of who becomes the next US president. Tamkang University Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies director Li Da-jung (李大中) said at a Taipei seminar on global semiconductor security that the relationship between the two superpowers would remain confrontational. There appears to be “no turning back” in US-China relations, as US presidential candidates US Vice President Kamala Harris and former US president Donald Trump are both expected to continue Washington’s hawkish stance