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.
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
Nvidia Corp’s GB300 platform is expected to account for 70 to 80 percent of global artificial intelligence (AI) server rack shipments this year, while adoption of its next-generation Vera Rubin 200 platform is to gradually gain momentum after the third quarter of the year, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said. Servers based on Nvidia’s GB300 chips entered mass production last quarter and they are expected to become the mainstay models for Taiwanese server manufacturers this year, Trendforce analyst Frank Kung (龔明德) said in an interview. This year is expected to be a breakout year for AI servers based on a variety of chips, as
Global semiconductor stocks advanced yesterday, as comments by Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) at Davos, Switzerland, helped reinforce investor enthusiasm for artificial intelligence (AI). Samsung Electronics Co gained as much as 5 percent to an all-time high, helping drive South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI above 5,000 for the first time. That came after the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose more than 3 percent to a fresh record on Wednesday, with a boost from Nvidia. The gains came amid broad risk-on trade after US President Donald Trump withdrew his threat of tariffs on some European nations over backing for Greenland. Huang further
HSBC Bank Taiwan Ltd (匯豐台灣商銀) and the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to enhance cooperation on the suspicious transaction analysis mechanism. This landmark agreement makes HSBC the first foreign bank in Taiwan to establish such a partnership with the High Prosecutors Office, underscoring its commitment to active anti-fraud initiatives, financial inclusion, and the “Treating Customers Fairly” principle. Through this deep public-private collaboration, both parties aim to co-create a secure financial ecosystem via early warning detection and precise fraud prevention technologies. At the signing ceremony, HSBC Taiwan CEO and head of banking Adam Chen (陳志堅)
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