Although the number of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) last year fell, the overall value surged 47 percent from a year earlier, propelled by US-China trade tensions, technological innovations and a realignment of the electronics supply chain, an annual report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Taiwan said yesterday.
“The M&A market took a hit from the COVID-19 pandemic last year, but may regain dynamism this year, helped by sustained monetary easing by global central banks and expectations of an economic recovery from the pandemic,” Lu Ming-kuang (盧明光), chairman of the Taiwan Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity Council (台灣併購與私募協會), said in the report.
Taiwanese firms, especially in the tech sector, have invested in business models with growth potential and sought to increase their market share by acquiring peers at home and abroad, the report said.
This drive to prosper explains why silicon wafer supplier GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓) bought Germany’s Siltronic AG, Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控) acquired Jih Sun Financial Holding Co (日盛金控) and iPhone assembler Pegatron Corp (和碩) fully absorbed metal casing subsidiary Casetek Holdings Ltd (鎧勝控股), it said.
Catcher Technology Co Ltd (可成科技), the nation’s leading supplier of light metal casings and enclosures for mobile devices, sold two smartphone metal chassis plants to China’s Lens Technology Co Ltd (藍思科技), as it quit a sector with cutthroat competition with thin returns and searched for a new business model, the report added.
The pandemic presents challenges and opportunities to companies in information and technology supply chains and Taiwanese firms need to plan ahead five to 10 years to stay ahead of global rivals, Ennostar Inc (富采投控) chairman Lee Biing-jye (李秉傑) said in the report.
Future competition would take place between supply chains and alliances, and local firms need to understand the trend so that they can secure advantageous positions and stay competitive, Lee said.
Taichung reported the steepest fall in completed home prices among the six special municipalities in the first quarter of this year, data compiled by Taiwan Realty Co (台灣房屋) showed yesterday. From January through last month, the average transaction price for completed homes in Taichung fell 8 percent from a year earlier to NT$299,000 (US$9,483) per ping (3.3m²), said Taiwan Realty, which compiled the data based on the government’s price registration platform. The decline could be attributed to many home buyers choosing relatively affordable used homes to live in themselves, instead of newly built homes in the city’s prime property market, Taiwan Realty
The government yesterday approved applications by Alphabet Inc’s Google to invest NT$27.08 billion (US$859.98 million) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. The Department of Investment Review approved two investments proposed by Google, with much of the funds to be used for data processing and electronic information supply services, as well as inventory procurement businesses in the semiconductor field, the ministry said. It marks the second consecutive year that Google has applied to increase its investment in Taiwan. Google plans to infuse NT$25.34 billion into Charter Investments Ltd (特許投資顧問) through its Singapore-based subsidiary Fructan Holdings Singapore Pte Ltd, and
JET JUICE: The war on Iran’s secondary effects have seen fuel prices skyrocket, knocking flight schedules down to earth in return as airlines struggle with costs Airline passengers should brace for more irritation in the next few months as carriers worldwide cancel flights and ground planes to cope with stratospheric increases in jet-fuel prices. Dutch flag carrier KLM is the latest company to cut its schedule, saying on Thursday that it would scrap 80 return flights at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport in the coming month. That puts it in the same league as United Airlines Holdings Inc, Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd, which have all pruned itineraries to mitigate costs. Global capacity for next month has been reduced by about 3 percentage points, with all
The US said it plans to help build a first-of-its-kind industrial hub in the Philippines to boost production of inputs crucial to US supply chains. The 4,000-acre hub is intended to be “a purpose-built platform for allied manufacturing” and “an investment acceleration hub where the specific industrial activities are shaped by market demand,” the US Department of State said on Thursday. The project — touted as an “economic security zone” — would be within the Luzon Economic Corridor, a flagship economic project backed by the US and Japan on the main Philippine island. The project was also described as “the first artificial intelligence
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