AUSTRALIA
Macquarie to buy AirTrunk
The country is set for its second-largest private equity deal of the past year, with Macquarie Group Ltd’s infrastructure arm agreeing to buy most of data-center firm AirTrunk. Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets finalized an agreement late last week to take control of AirTrunk, people familiar with the matter said. The investment values the business at about A$3 billion (US$2.1 billion), the people said. AirTrunk chief executive officer Robin Khuda would keep a minority stake after the transaction, the people said. AirTrunk is currently owned by investors including Goldman Sachs Group Inc’s special situations arm and TPG Sixth Street Partners.
GERMANY
State generates surplus
The federal government made a low double-digit billion euro surplus last year, Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper reported yesterday, thanks to higher tax revenues and record-low interest rates. Unused special funds — including money set aside for renovating schools or incentives for fighting climate change — also contributed to the surplus, Sueddeutsche added, citing government sources.
INVESTMENT
UAE to spend in Indonesia
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is to invest US$22.8 billion in Indonesia through a sovereign wealth fund being set up by Indonesian President Joko Widodo as the Southeast Asian nation seeks to finance billions of dollars of infrastructure and energy projects. The UAE plans to invest in building Indonesia’s new capital and also develop properties in Aceh Province, the cabinet secretariat said in a statement, citing Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Pandjaitan.
SOUTH KOREA
Chinese tourist boom likely
The nations’ years-long disputes with China are being resolved, and analysts at Nomura Holdings Inc expect Chinese tourists to return en masse to the nation of K-pop. Nomura said in a note on Friday last week that Chinese group-package trips are resuming and received confirmation from a major travel agency in the country that its tour companies have started offering services to domestic customers for the upcoming spring festival.
CHINA
Goldman to double staff
Goldman Sachs Group Inc plans to double its headcount in the Chinese Communist Party-ruled nation over the next five years, provided it continues down the path of opening up its financial markets. The ambition to raise staffing to 600 is part of a five-year plan drawn up by executives at the New York-based investment bank, said a person familiar with matter who asked not to be identified discussing confidential plans.
AUTOMAKERS
Porsche deliveries up 10%
Porsche AG shrugged off widespread industry malaise, reporting record deliveries for last year and predicting that its first all-electric model Taycan would foster further growth this year. Global deliveries rose 10 percent to 280,800 vehicles last year, driven mainly by strong consumer appetite for the Macan and Cayenne sport utility vehicles, Porsche said in a statement yesterday. “We’re optimistic that we can sustain the high demand in 2020,” Porsche sales chief Detlev von Platen said in the statement. Sales momentum should benefit from “the introduction of some new models and full order books for the Taycan,” he said.
UNCERTAINTY: Innolux activated a stringent supply chain management mechanism, as it did during the COVID-19 pandemic, to ensure optimal inventory levels for customers Flat-panel display makers AUO Corp (友達) and Innolux Corp (群創) yesterday said that about 12 to 20 percent of their display business is at risk of potential US tariffs and that they would relocate production or shipment destinations to mitigate the levies’ effects. US tariffs would have a direct impact of US$200 million on AUO’s revenue, company chairman Paul Peng (彭雙浪) told reporters on the sidelines of the Touch Taiwan trade show in Taipei yesterday. That would make up about 12 percent of the company’s overall revenue. To cope with the tariff uncertainty, AUO plans to allocate its production to manufacturing facilities in
Taiwan will prioritize the development of silicon photonics by taking advantage of its strength in the semiconductor industry to build another shield to protect the local economy, National Development Council (NDC) Minister Paul Liu (劉鏡清) said yesterday. Speaking at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee, Liu said Taiwan already has the artificial intelligence (AI) industry as a shield, after the semiconductor industry, to safeguard the country, and is looking at new unique fields to build more economic shields. While Taiwan will further strengthen its existing shields, over the longer term, the country is determined to focus on such potential segments as
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
RSS