MANUFACTURING
Foxconn to break ground
Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) plans to officially break ground for its southeastern Wisconsin manufacturing complex on June 28, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on Friday. The Taiwanese electronics giant plans to build a US$10 billion flat-screen manufacturing campus in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin. The state Department of Natural Resources last month approved air permits and gave permission for the facility to pull millions of liters of water daily from Lake Michigan.
AUTOMAKERS
Opel halts redundancies
German carmaker Opel has suspended voluntary redundancies after staff representatives warned that a wave of departures following PSA Group’s takeover could leave it short of skilled workers. Staff buyouts were halted earlier this week until talks can be held between Opel’s management and the company’s works council at the end of May, Opel said on Friday. PSA is looking to cut 3,700 Opel staff in Germany by 2020 as part of a turnaround plan, including buyouts and early retirements.
COSMETICS
Marc Anthony plans IPO
Marc Anthony Cosmetics, which was founded by its namesake celebrity hairstylist, has hired advisers to run an initial public offering (IPO) aimed at raising as much as C$250 million (US$195 million), people familiar with the matter said. The firm plans to file for its IPO as soon as next week, one of the people said. US private equity firm TA Associates Management acquired Marc Anthony in 2016 for about C$230 million. The firm expanded its beauty business this year by acquiring Canadian hair and skin care company Cake Beauty.
UNITED STATES
Wind farm boom expected
Wind farm developers could add as much as 25 gigawatts of capacity next year and in 2020 as the scheduled reduction of a tax credit spurs an unprecedented building boom, Macquarie Group analysts said in a research note on Friday. The flurry of construction would come as builders push to complete projects to take advantage of the production tax credit before it declines by 20 percent, Macquarie said.
? EGYPT
S&P upgrades credit rating
Ratings agency S&P upgraded the nation’s debt grade by one notch on Friday, citing stronger economic growth and moderating inflation. S&P raised the sovereign credit rating to “B” from “B-,” which is still below investment grade but further up the scale. The ratings agency cited the improving economy, which is expected to average growth of 5.4 percent over the next four years, reflecting “a more broad-based recovery and a slight move away from consumption” toward greater investment and net exports.
AUTOMAKERS
VW to recall 220,000 cars
German carmaker Volkswagen AG (VW) is to recall about 220,000 of its new Polo vehicles in the next few weeks due to a problem with the rear seat belt lock, it said on Friday, adding that 191,000 cars of its Spanish unit Seat were also affected. The company said the global recall is limited to markets where Polo cars are sold and the Seat brand does business. At Seat, last year’s and this year’s Ibiza models, as well as this year’s Arona model are affected, it said.
KEEPING UP: The acquisition of a cleanroom in Taiwan would enable Micron to increase production in a market where demand continues to outpace supply, a Micron official said Micron Technology Inc has signed a letter of intent to buy a fabrication site in Taiwan from Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) for US$1.8 billion to expand its production of memory chips. Micron would take control of the P5 site in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼) and plans to ramp up DRAM production in phases after the transaction closes in the second quarter, the company said in a statement on Saturday. The acquisition includes an existing 12 inch fab cleanroom of 27,871m2 and would further position Micron to address growing global demand for memory solutions, the company said. Micron expects the transaction to
Vincent Wei led fellow Singaporean farmers around an empty Malaysian plot, laying out plans for a greenhouse and rows of leafy vegetables. What he pitched was not just space for crops, but a lifeline for growers struggling to make ends meet in a city-state with high prices and little vacant land. The future agriculture hub is part of a joint special economic zone launched last year by the two neighbors, expected to cost US$123 million and produce 10,000 tonnes of fresh produce annually. It is attracting Singaporean farmers with promises of cheaper land, labor and energy just over the border.
US actor Matthew McConaughey has filed recordings of his image and voice with US patent authorities to protect them from unauthorized usage by artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, a representative said earlier this week. Several video clips and audio recordings were registered by the commercial arm of the Just Keep Livin’ Foundation, a non-profit created by the Oscar-winning actor and his wife, Camila, according to the US Patent and Trademark Office database. Many artists are increasingly concerned about the uncontrolled use of their image via generative AI since the rollout of ChatGPT and other AI-powered tools. Several US states have adopted
A proposed billionaires’ tax in California has ignited a political uproar in Silicon Valley, with tech titans threatening to leave the state while California Governor Gavin Newsom of the Democratic Party maneuvers to defeat a levy that he fears would lead to an exodus of wealth. A technology mecca, California has more billionaires than any other US state — a few hundred, by some estimates. About half its personal income tax revenue, a financial backbone in the nearly US$350 billion budget, comes from the top 1 percent of earners. A large healthcare union is attempting to place a proposal before
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