RIDE-HAILERS
Uber sets Lyft limit
As Lyft Inc was gauging interest from prospective acquirers, executives from Uber Technologies Inc in the past few weeks told investors that the company would not pay more than US$2 billion to purchase its main US ride-hailing competitor, people familiar with the matter said. Uber did not make a formal offer, the people said. Uber had previously considered purchasing Lyft as far back as 2014, and the two San Francisco companies have discussed the prospect informally, one of the people said. Uber chief executive officer Travis Kalanick has privately said that he would not support such a deal because he believes it would face intense regulatory scrutiny, the person said.
CHINA
Diesel exports rebound
Diesel exports last month rebounded to a record level as severe flooding in some parts of the country curbed domestic fuel demand. The country exported 1.53 million tonnes of diesel last month, a 39 percent jump from June and beating the previous record in May, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs yesterday. While outbound gasoline shipments slipped from a record the previous month, they more than doubled from last year to 970,000 tonnes last month. China’s worst flooding since 1998 caused about US$33 billion in economic losses last month, according to London-based insurance broker Aon PLC.
NICARAGUA
Oil spill contaminates coast
A massive refinery fire caused an oil spill that has contaminated sensitive nearby coastal habitat, a non-profit group said. In the aftermath of the refinery fire at the Puma Energy facility on the country’s Pacific coast, oil has slickened nearly 130 hectares of the nearby water and soil, said Victor Campos, director of the Humboldt Center, an environmental group. Meanwhile, authorities on Saturday said they hope to soon have the fire contained at the facility, the Central American nation’s sole oil refinery.
PUERTO RICO
Bondholders seek reprieve
A lawsuit filed on behalf of University of Puerto Rico bondholders is asking a federal court to stop the commonwealth from diverting US$89 million in tuition and fees that are pledged for bond payments. Officials say they need to use the funds earmarked for bond payments to provide essential services amid a deep fiscal crisis. The lawsuit filed on Friday by bond trustee US Bank Trust National Association seeks relief from a new federal law that stays creditor lawsuits. The University of Puerto Rico has US$431.8 million in outstanding bonds and pays US$42.6 million annually.
PETROLEUM
Pacific creditors mull deal
Creditors of Colombia-based oil producer Pacific Exploration and Production Corp are being offered a larger stake in a restructured company under an eleventh-hour bid from a group that includes Mexican investor Fernando Chico Pardo, according to people who back the offer. Under the proposal, affected creditors would receive 60 percent of the equity in a restructured Pacific, compared with 58.2 percent under a plan from Canada’s Catalyst Capital Group, the people said. Pacific on Friday said that the latest restructuring proposal includes US$575 million in debtor-in-possession financing, while the Catalyst bid includes US$500 million in financing.
FALLING BEHIND: Samsung shares have declined more than 20 percent this year, as the world’s largest chipmaker struggles in key markets and plays catch-up to rival SK Hynix Samsung Electronics Co is laying off workers in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand as part of a plan to reduce its global headcount by thousands of jobs, sources familiar with the situation said. The layoffs could affect about 10 percent of its workforces in those markets, although the numbers for each subsidiary might vary, said one of the sources, who asked not to be named because the matter is private. Job cuts are planned for other overseas subsidiaries and could reach 10 percent in certain markets, the source said. The South Korean company has about 147,000 in staff overseas, more than half
TECH PARTNERSHIP: The deal with Arizona-based Amkor would provide TSMC with advanced packing and test capacities, a requirement to serve US customers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is collaborating with Amkor Technology Inc to provide local advanced packaging and test capacities in Arizona to address customer requirements for geographical flexibility in chip manufacturing. As part of the agreement, TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, would contract turnkey advanced packaging and test services from Amkor at their planned facility in Peoria, Arizona, a joint statement released yesterday said. TSMC would leverage these services to support its customers, particularly those using TSMC’s advanced wafer fabrication facilities in Phoenix, Arizona, it said. The companies would jointly define the specific packaging technologies, such as TSMC’s Integrated
An Indian factory producing iPhone components resumed work yesterday after a fire that halted production — the third blaze to disrupt Apple Inc’s local supply chain since the start of last year. Local industrial behemoth Tata Group’s plant in Tamil Nadu, which was shut down by the unexplained fire on Saturday, is a key linchpin of Apple’s nascent supply chain in the country. A spokesperson for subsidiary Tata Electronics Pvt yesterday said that the company would restart work in “many areas of the facility today.” “We’ve been working diligently since Saturday to support our team and to identify the cause of the fire,”
Sales RecORD: Hon Hai’s consolidated sales rose by about 20 percent last quarter, while Largan, another Apple supplier, saw quarterly sales increase by 17 percent IPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) on Saturday reported its highest-ever quarterly sales for the third quarter on the back of solid global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) globally, said it posted NT$1.85 trillion (US$57.93 billion) in consolidated sales in the July-to-September quarter, up 19.46 percent from the previous quarter and up 20.15 percent from a year earlier. The figure beat the previous third-quarter high of NT$1.74 trillion recorded in 2022, company data showed. Due to rising demand for AI, Hon Hai said its cloud and networking division enjoyed strong sales
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