BANKING
OCBC seeks to buy HK bank
Singapore’s Overseas-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC) said yesterday it has offered to buy Hong Kong’s Wing Hang Bank (永亨銀行) for US$4.95 billion as it seeks to boost its presence in the giant Chinese market. OCBC said in a statement the acquisition would provide it with a platform to grow its yuan-denominated businesses, and broaden its access to US and Hong Kong dollar funds. The company offered to buy each Wing Hang share at HK$125, or a total of HK$38.43 billion (US$4.95 billion) in cash. The offer price gives a 1.6 percent premium to Wing Hang shares as of their last closing price of HK$123, and about 67.3 percent over the 90-day average price, OCBC said.
ONLINE VIDEO
Yahoo to vie with YouTube
Yahoo is in talks to buy the online video service NDN, which could help it compete with YouTube, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. Yahoo could pay US$300 million in the deal for News Distribution Network, according to unnamed sources cited by the Journal. The deal could be Yahoo’s second-largest acquisition under Mayer, the report added. Last year, Yahoo bought Tumblr for US$1.1 billion.
COMPUTING
Microsoft unveils shakeup
Microsoft Corp chief executive Satya Nadella on Monday unveiled a leadership shakeup at the technology giant, including a new head for the Xbox division. In an e-mail to Microsoft employees, Nadella also formalized the role for former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, saying he would head the Microsoft Devices Group when the deal for the Finnish group’s handset business closes by the end of this month. Nadella also said he had promoted Scott Guthrie, the acting chief for cloud and enterprise, to executive vice-president.
E-COMMERCE
Amazon workers strike
Hundreds of workers at online retailer Amazon in Germany went on strike on Monday, the first stoppage this year in a pay dispute that has dragged on for months. A spokesman for the Verdi labor union had said that about 500 of about 1,200 workers at Amazon’s distribution center in Leipzig were expected to strike. An Amazon spokeswoman said fewer than 340 workers took part and deliveries had not been delayed.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Facebook CEO reaps gains
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg reaped a US$3.3 billion gain last year by exercising stock options in the social networking company. The windfall saddled Zuckerberg with a huge tax bill, even though he limited his Facebook salary to just US$1, according to regulatory documents filed on Monday. It marks the second straight year that Zuckerberg has realized a huge gain on the holding that he has accumulated in Facebook Inc since he started the company in 2004. In 2012, Zuckerberg made US$2.3 billion off his stock options.
TRADE
Indonesia surplus surprises
Indonesia swung to a higher-than-expected trade surplus in February as a jump in palm oil prices and slowdown in imports boosted Southeast Asia’s top economy, official data showed yesterday. The surplus of US$785.3 million came after a US$431 million deficit in January caused by a controversial ban on mineral ore shipments that hit exports. Economists had expected a surplus of about US$420 million.
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