COMPUTERS
Dell, allies raise offer
Dell founder Michael Dell and his investor allies on Wednesday boosted their buyout offer for the struggling company to become a private entity. The new offer from Michael Dell and private equity firm Silver Lake was increased to US$13.75 per share, from US$13.65 a share, on condition of a change in the shareholder vote process. The new bid adds about US$150 million to the US$24.4 billion offer, according to shareholder letter.
SPAIN
Unemployment rate drops
The unemployment rate fell for the first time in two years to 26.26 percent in the second quarter, official data showed yesterday, a day after the central bank said the recession-hit country seemed close to a recovery. On the back of demand for workers during the tourist season, the number of jobless people fell by 225,200 over the quarter to reach a total of 5,977,500 unemployed.
BANKING
N Zealand rate unchanged
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand held its official interest rate at a record low 2.5 percent yesterday amid signs of slowing growth in major trading partners Australia and China. Though removal of monetary stimulus will likely be needed in the future, the official cash rate pegged at 2.5 percent since March 2011 was not expected to change before the end of the year, the bank said.
ENTERTAINMENT
Imax expanding in China
Imax and Chinese partner Wanda Cinema Line Corp (萬達) plan to open up to 120 giant-screen cinemas in China’s fast-growing film market. The agreement will make Wanda — currently Asia’s biggest cinema operator — the biggest international Imax operator, Imax said.
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
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
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
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
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