The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) yesterday fined South Korean online gaming giant Nexon Co NT$900,000 (US$30,100) for failing to report its acquisition of more than a one-third stake in Taiwan’s Gamania Digital Entertainment Co (遊戲橘子) in a closely watched hostile takeover deal in the online gaming industry.
The commission said Nexon’s purchase of stock in the Taiwanese firm violated the Fair Trade Act (公平交易法), which stipulates that any merger within certain parameters must be reported to the authorities in advance.
In the Gamania case, the commission said it discovered that Nexon already held more than one-third of the total voting rights or total capital of Gamania. In addition, Nexon is seeking to take over a company that has a market share of more than 25 percent in a particular field domestically, the commission said in a statement posted on its Web site.
Based on statistics provided by the Industrial Development Bureau and calculations made by the -commission, “Nexon holds a 34.6 percent share in Gamania, which has a market share of 28.53 percent in Taiwan’s online gaming industry,” the commission said.
As Gamania has secured about a quarter of the nation’s online gaming market, any merger involving it would have an influence on competitors and Nexon is required by law to submit any share purchase plans to the authorities before it proceeds, the commission said.
“Nexon did not file an application with the authorities in advance,” it said.
Since the South Korean company failed to follow existing regulations, the commission said it had decided to impose an administrative penalty of NT$900,000 and demand that Nexon submit an application or reduce its stake in the company within three months, according to the statement.
Nexon has adopted an aggressive strategy in expanding its market share. The company announced on Thursday last week that it would acquire all the shares of Japanese mobile game developer inBlue and that it had purchased a strategic 14.7 percent share in rival NCsoft Corp of South Korea on June 8.
The company is currently one of Gamania’s partners, but its move has sparked market speculation that Gamania could be bought out by its foreign partner. However, the Taiwanese firm is insisting on remaining independent and has rejected any merger with Nexon.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
BIG BUCKS: Chairman Wei is expected to receive NT$34.12 million on a proposed NT$5 cash dividend plan, while the National Development Fund would get NT$8.27 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday announced that its board of directors approved US$15.25 billion in capital appropriations for long-term expansion to meet growing demand. The funds are to be used for installing advanced technology and packaging capacity, expanding mature and specialty technology, and constructing fabs with facility systems, TSMC said in a statement. The board also approved a proposal to distribute a NT$5 cash dividend per share, based on first-quarter earnings per share of NT$13.94, it said. That surpasses the NT$4.50 dividend for the fourth quarter of last year. TSMC has said that while it is eager
‘IMMENSE SWAY’: The top 50 companies, based on market cap, shape everything from technology to consumer trends, advisory firm Visual Capitalist said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) was ranked the 10th-most valuable company globally this year, market information advisory firm Visual Capitalist said. TSMC sat on a market cap of about US$915 billion as of Monday last week, making it the 10th-most valuable company in the world and No. 1 in Asia, the publisher said in its “50 Most Valuable Companies in the World” list. Visual Capitalist described TSMC as the world’s largest dedicated semiconductor foundry operator that rolls out chips for major tech names such as US consumer electronics brand Apple Inc, and artificial intelligence (AI) chip designers Nvidia Corp and Advanced
Pegatron Corp (和碩), an iPhone assembler for Apple Inc, is to spend NT$5.64 billion (US$186.82 million) to acquire HTC Corp’s (宏達電) factories in Taoyuan and invest NT$578.57 million in its India subsidiary to expand manufacturing capacity, after its board approved the plans on Wednesday. The Taoyuan factories would expand production of consumer electronics, and communication and computing devices, while the India investment would boost production of communications devices and possibly automotive electronics later, a Pegatron official told the Taipei Times by telephone yesterday. Pegatron expects to complete the Taoyuan factory transaction in the third quarter, said the official, who declined to be
RSS