MANUFACTURING
Sumeeko to buy Max Mothes
Sumeeko Industries Co Ltd (世德工業), which supplies fasteners for major automakers such as General Motors Co, yesterday said its board has approved a share purchase deal with Neuss, Germany-based Max Mothes GmbH. Sumeeko plans to spend 6.5 million euros (US$7.5 million) to acquire a 51 percent stake in Max Mothes, which manufactures and supplies screws, swivels and fasteners. The companies are scheduled to close the deal next month, Sumeeko chief financial officer Yan Pin (顏蘋) said. Kaohsiung-based Sumeeko expects its first overseas acquisition to help it strengthen its foothold in Europe, as Max Mothes also has a presence in Turkey, Austria, Belgium and Italy.
FOOD AND BEVERAGE
TTFB plans to add outlets
Restaurant operator Tai Tong Food & Beverage Group (TTFB, 瓦城泰統集團), whose flagship brands include Thai Town Cuisine (瓦城泰式料理), yesterday said in a statement that it plans to open 11 stores in Taiwan and four in China in the second half of this year. That would boost the number of its Taiwanese and Chinese outlets to 113 and 11 respectively by the end of the year, the statement said. The firm is also to collaborate with international restaurant brands to establish a new subsidiary, which aims to introduce foreign cuisine brands to Taiwanese consumers, TTFB chairman Charles Hsu (徐承義) said in the statement.
AUTOMOTIVE
Hotai to buy stake in Toyota
Hotai Motor Co (和泰汽車), which sells Toyota and Lexus brand vehicles in Taiwan, yesterday said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange that it plans to spend up to ￥22 billion (US$199.6 million) to purchase shares of Toyota Motor Corp. Hotai said it aims to strengthen collaboration with the Japanese auto giant and enhance its competitiveness through the share acquisition. The deal still requires approval from the Investment Commission, the car distributor said.
ACQUISITIONS
Chilisin to acquire Magic
Chilisin Electronics Corp (奇力新), the nation’s largest power inductor manufacturer, on Wednesday announced that it would acquire local peer Magic Technology Co Ltd (美桀) via a stock swap. The firm plans to acquire all Magic shares at a ratio of one Magic share per 0.503 Chilisin shares. The NT$4.06 billion (US$134 million) deal is expected to be completed on Nov. 30 after receiving regulatory approvals and could boost Chilisin’s market share in the global inductor market to about 13 percent — 1 percentage point less than the market share of the top three makers: TDK-EPC Corp (13.42 percent), Murata Manufacturing Co Ltd (13.78 percent) and Taiyo Yuden Co Ltd (13.22 percent). Chilisin shares yesterday closed up 0.29 percent at NT$173.5 and Magic shares rose 9.94 percent higher to NT$79.6 in Taipei trading.
TECHNOLOGY
FII shares continue to fall
Foxconn Industrial Internet Co (FII, 富士康工業互聯網), a subsidiary of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), yesterday saw its shares decline for a fifth straight session on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, closing down 8.51 percent to 18.17 yuan. FII has tumbled more than 30 percent from its peak of 26.36 yuan just a week earlier, wiping out 148.699 billion yuan (US$22.897 trillion) from its market capitalization. The firm, which makes electronics, cloud-computing service equipment and industrial robots, debuted its shares in Shanghai on June 8 at 13.77 yuan. Hon Hai holds an 84.8 percent stake in FII.
Taiwanese suppliers to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) are expected to follow the contract chipmaker’s step to invest in the US, but their relocation may be seven to eight years away, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. When asked by opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) in the legislature about growing concerns that TSMC’s huge investments in the US will prompt its suppliers to follow suit, Kuo said based on the chipmaker’s current limited production volume, it is unlikely to lead its supply chain to go there for now. “Unless TSMC completes its planned six
Intel Corp has named Tasha Chuang (莊蓓瑜) to lead Intel Taiwan in a bid to reinforce relations between the company and its Taiwanese partners. The appointment of Chuang as general manager for Intel Taiwan takes effect on Thursday, the firm said in a statement yesterday. Chuang is to lead her team in Taiwan to pursue product development and sales growth in an effort to reinforce the company’s ties with its partners and clients, Intel said. Chuang was previously in charge of managing Intel’s ties with leading Taiwanese PC brand Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), which included helping Asustek strengthen its global businesses, the company
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said second-quarter revenue is expected to surpass the first quarter, which rose 30 percent year-on-year to NT$118.92 billion (US$3.71 billion). Revenue this quarter is likely to grow, as US clients have front-loaded orders ahead of US President Donald Trump’s planned tariffs on Taiwanese goods, Delta chairman Ping Cheng (鄭平) said at an earnings conference in Taipei, referring to the 90-day pause in tariff implementation Trump announced on April 9. While situations in the third and fourth quarters remain unclear, “We will not halt our long-term deployments and do not plan to
The New Taiwan dollar and Taiwanese stocks surged on signs that trade tensions between the world’s top two economies might start easing and as US tech earnings boosted the outlook of the nation’s semiconductor exports. The NT dollar strengthened as much as 3.8 percent versus the US dollar to 30.815, the biggest intraday gain since January 2011, closing at NT$31.064. The benchmark TAIEX jumped 2.73 percent to outperform the region’s equity gauges. Outlook for global trade improved after China said it is assessing possible trade talks with the US, providing a boost for the nation’s currency and shares. As the NT dollar
RSS