China Development Financial Holding Co (中華開發金控) has agreed to acquire Singapore-based futures brokerage Ong First Tradition Pte Ltd as part of an effort to extend its reach in the securities and futures trading business in Asia.
China Development Financial said a board meeting on Monday approved wholly-owned subsidiary KGI Securities Co (凱基證券) acquiring the Singapore futures brokerage for S$48.8 million (US$43.38 million), or S$16.27 per share.
The acquisition price represents a more than 100 percent premium over Ong First Tradition’s book value per share.
PENDING APPROVAL
As the deal is pending regulatory approval in both Taiwan and Singapore, KGI Securities said it does not yet have a firm timetable to complete the transaction.
Ong First Tradition, established in 1984, was the first futures brokerage in Singapore and a pioneer clearing member of Singapore Exchange-Derivatives Trading, according to KGI Securities.
The firm has built an advantageous position in the Southeast Asian futures market over the past 30 years, thanks to a comprehensive product portfolio including finance, agriculture, energy and metal futures, KGI Securities said.
RETURN ON EQUITY
Since 2010, the Singaporean company has expanded its turf to foreign exchange futures products and the firm has proven its profitability by posting a more than 20 percent return on equity in the first eight months of this year, KGI Securities said.
KGI Securities obtained a futures trading license in Singapore in March and opened a branch in the city-state in May.
KGI Securities also has branches in Hong Kong and Thailand. The brokerage is also studying the possibility of opening outlets in Shanghai and Shenzhen.
TARIFF TRADE-OFF: Machinery exports to China dropped after Beijing ended its tariff reductions in June, while potential new tariffs fueled ‘front-loaded’ orders to the US The nation’s machinery exports to the US amounted to US$7.19 billion last year, surpassing the US$6.86 billion to China to become the largest export destination for the local machinery industry, the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (TAMI, 台灣機械公會) said in a report on Jan. 10. It came as some manufacturers brought forward or “front-loaded” US-bound shipments as required by customers ahead of potential tariffs imposed by the new US administration, the association said. During his campaign, US president-elect Donald Trump threatened tariffs of as high as 60 percent on Chinese goods and 10 percent to 20 percent on imports from other countries.
Taiwanese manufacturers have a chance to play a key role in the humanoid robot supply chain, Tongtai Machine and Tool Co (東台精機) chairman Yen Jui-hsiung (嚴瑞雄) said yesterday. That is because Taiwanese companies are capable of making key parts needed for humanoid robots to move, such as harmonic drives and planetary gearboxes, Yen said. This ability to produce these key elements could help Taiwanese manufacturers “become part of the US supply chain,” he added. Yen made the remarks a day after Nvidia Corp cofounder and chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said his company and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) are jointly
United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) expects its addressable market to grow by a low single-digit percentage this year, lower than the overall foundry industry’s 15 percent expansion and the global semiconductor industry’s 10 percent growth, the contract chipmaker said yesterday after reporting the worst profit in four-and-a-half years in the fourth quarter of last year. Growth would be fueled by demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers, a moderate recovery in consumer electronics and an increase in semiconductor content, UMC said. “UMC’s goal is to outgrow our addressable market while maintaining our structural profitability,” UMC copresident Jason Wang (王石) told an online earnings
MARKET SHIFTS: Exports to the US soared more than 120 percent to almost one quarter, while ASEAN has steadily increased to 18.5 percent on rising tech sales The proportion of Taiwan’s exports directed to China, including Hong Kong, declined by more than 12 percentage points last year compared with its peak in 2020, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday last week. The decrease reflects the ongoing restructuring of global supply chains, driven by escalating trade tensions between Beijing and Washington. Data compiled by the ministry showed China and Hong Kong accounted for 31.7 percent of Taiwan’s total outbound sales last year, a drop of 12.2 percentage points from a high of 43.9 percent in 2020. In addition to increasing trade conflicts between China and the US, the ministry said
RSS