China Synthetic Rubber Corp (CSRC, 中橡), the world’s fifth-largest carbon black supplier, said its board has approved a plan to spin off its carbon black and biotech units, as the 45-year-old company considers transforming into a holding firm.
The planned spin-off, intended to improve the company’s operating efficiency and raise its competitiveness, is scheduled to take effect on Sept. 30, CSRC said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange on Thursday last week.
CSRC, a major subsidiary of the nation’s largest cement maker, Taiwan Cement Corp (台灣水泥), said it would remain listed on the local bourse after the move and would rename itself International CSRC Investment Holdings Co Ltd (國際中橡投資控股).
The existing shareholders’ interests would not be affected by the restructuring, it added.
However, the plan still needs to be approved by shareholders at an annual meeting on June 26, the filing said.
In a separate filing, the company said the board gave the nod to raising capital through the issuance of 180 million new shares in the near term to fund investments in India and the US.
CSRC said it plans to inject US$155 million into Continental Carbon India Ltd, which would be used to expand manufacturing capacity of carbon black at the unit’s plants in India’s Gujarat State.
As for the US investment, CSRC proposed a capital injection of US$52 million to Continental Carbon Co, headquartered in Houston, Texas, to replenish its operating capital, the filing showed.
The firm operates plants in the US, China and India, with a combined capacity of about 790,000 tonnes of carbon black per year, company data showed.
In the first four months of this year, the company’s cumulative revenue grew 15.99 percent to NT$7.49 billion from NT$6.46 billion (US$251.6 million from US$217 million) a year earlier.
Although the fundraising might allow CSRC to financially strengthen its Indian and US units, it could dilute earnings per share in the near term, and its effects would not materialize by 2020, KGI Securities Investment Advisory Co (凱基投顧) analyst Tom Hsu (許家源) said in a note on Thursday last week.
KGI Securities lowered its 12-month target share price to NT$48 from NT$53, valuing CSRC at 1.4 times its estimated net value of NT$34 following the execution of the recapitalization scheme.
CSRC shares on Friday last week closed up 3.27 percent at NT$44.2 in Taipei trading. The stock is up 0.8 percent this year, underperforming the broader market’s 2.03 percent rise.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
Intel Corp yesterday reinforced its determination to strengthen its partnerships with Taiwan’s ecosystem partners including original-electronic-manufacturing (OEM) companies such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電). “Tonight marks a new beginning. We renew our new partnership with Taiwan ecosystem,” Intel new chief executive officer Tan Lip-bu (陳立武) said at a dinner with representatives from the company’s local partners, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the US chip giant’s presence in Taiwan. Tan took the reins at Intel six weeks ago aiming to reform the chipmaker and revive its past glory. This is the first time Tan