SOLAR PANELS
Sunrun buying out rival
The US’ largest rooftop solar installer, Sunrun Inc, is taking out one of its major rivals, Vivint Solar Inc, in a deal valued at US$3.2 billion. Sunrun is buying Vivint in an all-stock transaction, under which each share of Vivint is to be exchanged for 0.55 shares of Sunrun, the companies said in a statement on Monday. The acquisition is expected to close during the fourth quarter, subject to approvals.
SOFTWARE
Palantir seeks stock listing
Data analysis specialist Palantir Technologies Inc has filed for a stock listing, the company said in a statement on Monday. The Californian company, which sells software used by governments and large companies worldwide, is looking to go public later this year, Bloomberg reported. It could be one of the biggest initial public offerings since Uber Technologies Inc, with the secretive Palantir previously valued at US$20 billion in 2015 — although it was not clear what valuation the company would seek in going public.
ENERGY
Eni drops price forecasts
Eni SpA became the latest oil company to cut its long-term price assumptions, saying that the novel coronavirus pandemic would have a lasting effect on the industry. Eni now sees benchmark Brent crude at US$60 a barrel in 2023 real terms, down from a previous estimate of US$70, the company said late on Monday, warning of impairment charges. Rivals Royal Dutch Shell PLC and BP PLC have also cut price forecasts as the lockdown-induced slump batters their business, forcing producers to reassess the value of their assets amid a shift to cleaner energy.
PUBLISHING
Reach to cut 550 jobs
British newspaper publisher Reach PLC yesterday said that it would cut about 550 jobs, or 12 percent of its workforce, after the COVID-19 pandemic hit circulation and advertising. Reach, whose titles include the Daily Mirror and Daily Express, said that second-quarter revenue declined 27.5 percent, with print revenue down 29.5 percent and digital revenue down 14.8 percent. The company has seen increased adoption of its digital products, with customer registrations passing the 2.5 million mark during the pandemic.
REAL ESTATE
Zara owner shifts focus
Fashion label Zara owner Amancio Ortega has turned his attention to real estate. The Spanish billionaire’s property holdings have soared to 15.2 billion euros (US$17.13 billion), his firm revealed for the first time yesterday, giving him the largest real-estate portfolio among Europe’s super-rich. Ortega, 84, invested 2.1 billion euros in real estate last year through various subsidiaries of his holding company Pontegadea, the firm said in an e-mailed statement. Pontegadea had a net income of 1.8 billion euros for last year, including 621 million euros from real-estate assets.
CHEMICALS
LG Polymers found negligent
An investigation into a deadly gas leak at a South Korean-owned chemical plant in southern India that killed 12 people in May recommended that the factory be moved away from inhabited areas, a report released yesterday said. The probe at the plant run by LG Polymers, which is owned by South Korea’s LG Chem Ltd, found that the company was negligent and warning systems were not working, the local state government said on Monday.
ADVANCED: Previously, Taiwanese chip companies were restricted from building overseas fabs with technology less than two generations behind domestic factories Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), a major chip supplier to Nvidia Corp, would no longer be restricted from investing in next-generation 2-nanometer chip production in the US, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. However, the ministry added that the world’s biggest contract chipmaker would not be making any reckless decisions, given the weight of its up to US$30 billion investment. To safeguard Taiwan’s chip technology advantages, the government has barred local chipmakers from making chips using more advanced technologies at their overseas factories, in China particularly. Chipmakers were previously only allowed to produce chips using less advanced technologies, specifically
The New Taiwan dollar is on the verge of overtaking the yuan as Asia’s best carry-trade target given its lower risk of interest-rate and currency volatility. A strategy of borrowing the New Taiwan dollar to invest in higher-yielding alternatives has generated the second-highest return over the past month among Asian currencies behind the yuan, based on the Sharpe ratio that measures risk-adjusted relative returns. The New Taiwan dollar may soon replace its Chinese peer as the region’s favored carry trade tool, analysts say, citing Beijing’s efforts to support the yuan that can create wild swings in borrowing costs. In contrast,
TARIFF SURGE: The strong performance could be attributed to the growing artificial intelligence device market and mass orders ahead of potential US tariffs, analysts said The combined revenue of companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange and the Taipei Exchange for the whole of last year totaled NT$44.66 trillion (US$1.35 trillion), up 12.8 percent year-on-year and hit a record high, data compiled by investment consulting firm CMoney showed on Saturday. The result came after listed firms reported a 23.92 percent annual increase in combined revenue for last month at NT$4.1 trillion, the second-highest for the month of December on record, and posted a 15.63 percent rise in combined revenue for the December quarter at NT$12.25 billion, the highest quarterly figure ever, the data showed. Analysts attributed the
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) quarterly sales topped estimates, reinforcing investor hopes that the torrid pace of artificial intelligence (AI) hardware spending would extend into this year. The go-to chipmaker for Nvidia Corp and Apple Inc reported a 39 percent rise in December-quarter revenue to NT$868.5 billion (US$26.35 billion), based on calculations from monthly disclosures. That compared with an average estimate of NT$854.7 billion. The strong showing from Taiwan’s largest company bolsters expectations that big tech companies from Alphabet Inc to Microsoft Corp would continue to build and upgrade datacenters at a rapid clip to propel AI development. Growth accelerated for
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