Cathay Life Insurance Co (國泰人壽) yesterday said it broke ground on its third logistics facility in Taichung’s Wuri District (烏日), which is part of the life insurer’s NT$30 billion (US$901.7 million) bid to tap the logistics business.
In 2014, Lin Yuan Group (霖園集團) purchased a 51 percent stake in Ally Logistic Property (永聯物流) via an investment subsidiary, aiming to introduce advanced logistic solutions to Taiwan. Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) is the group’s flagship company.
Ally Logistic Property plans to invest NT$30 billion to build a warehouse and storage facilities on land secured through public sector contracts by Cathay Life throughout the nation.
“Most corrugated metal-roofed warehouses in Taichung do not conform to fire safety and efficiency standards. Through the project, we hope to fill the demand for advanced logistics services that can be tailored for the needs of every client,” Ally Logistic Property chairman Charlie Chang (張建泰) said.
In addition, the conglomerate’s foray into logistics is to provide it with data and a testing ground for Cathay United Bank’s (國泰世華銀行) new logistics financing service, which is to allow companies to use warehoused inventory as collateral for loans.
The NT$3.1 billion logistics center adjacent to the Taiwan High Speed Rail Taichung Station in Wuri spans 36,355m2 and offers convenient access to major cities along the west coast within an hour’s travel time, the conglomerate said.
Cathay Life has secured the rights to use the land for 30 years, it said.
The facility is expected to provide logistical support to several of Taichung’s industries, including precision machinery, bicycles, medical technology, biotechnology and aerospace engineering, the conglomerate said, adding that it is expected to be completed in the third quarter of next year.
The company’s first logistics center in New Taipei City’s Ruifang District (瑞芳) began operations in 2014 and facilitates the sale of luxury goods and home appliances by cross-border e-commerce vendors. Its second facility in Taoyuan’s Dayuan District (大園) provides logistical support for sales of consumer goods and industrial materials.
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV yesterday said that it has reached an agreement to acquire a subsidiary brewery of Taiwan’s Sanyo Whisbih Group (三洋維士比集團). Heineken is to assume majority ownership and management rights of the Long Chuan Zuan Co (龍泉鑽興業) brewery in Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔), the Dutch company said. It would become the first multinational brewing company to operate brewery in Taiwan once the acquisition is completed. The deal has been approved by the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Investment Commission, but details of the financial transaction cannot be disclosed at this time, as terms of the settlement have not been completed,
LOOK WHO OWES: China’s exposure to Taiwanese banks was the second-largest, with Luxembourg third, followed by Hong Kong and Japan, the central bank said The US remained the largest debtor country to Taiwan’s banking sector for a 27th consecutive quarter in the first quarter of this year, with its exposure rising 8.3 percent from a quarter earlier on the back of an increase in US bonds, the central bank said on Friday. Data compiled by the central bank showed that outstanding international claims by Taiwanese banks on a direct risk basis to the US stood at US$125.38 billion as of the end of March. Department of Financial Inspection deputy head Pan Ya-hui (潘雅慧) said that the US Federal Reserve’s launch of a rate hike cycle in
GREEN CITY: The company is set to invest US$8 billion to make electric vehicles and batteries for a new city that would rely entirely on renewable energy sources Indonesia said that Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) is considering investing in the country’s new capital city, a move that would bolster the US$34 billion construction project. Hon Hai, which is known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), is looking at setting up an electric bus system and an Internet of Things network at Nusantara, as Indonesia’s new capital is to be called, Indonesian Minister of Investment Bahlil Lahadalia said in a statement yesterday. Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Saturday to discuss the company’s plan to invest US$8 billion to build a manufacturing plant
WHOLLY OWNED SUBSIDIARY: Costco Wholesale said it expected the purchase of the remaining 45 percent stake to add 1 to 1.5 percent to its earnings per share US-based Costco Wholesale Corp on Thursday said that it had purchased the remaining 45 percent stake in Costco President Taiwan Inc (台灣好市多) for US$1.05 billion, making the local company a fully-owned unit. “We estimate that the purchase would add about 1 to 1.5 percent to [our] earnings per share,” Costco said in a statement. Costco President Taiwan was established as a joint venture with Kaohsiung-based President Group (大統集團), which held a 45 percent stake. Since the first Costco store opened in Kaohsiung in 1997, 14 outlets have been set up in Taiwan, company data showed. PROFITABLE Three Costco stores in Taiwan — in Taipei’s Neihu