PHARMACEUTICALS
Adimmune plans expansion
Vaccine maker Adimmune Corp (國光生技) and its subsidiary Enimmune Corp (安特羅生技) on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding with Singapore-listed Innovalues Tech for a joint venture in Southeast Asia to explore local markets. Innovalues Tech is a subsidiary of private equity group Northstar (北極星), with capital of US$350 million. Innovalues Tech has positioned itself as a provider of biomedicine-related products and has invested in several medical centers in Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. The joint venture is expected to be established before the end of the year, with the initial goal of introducing influenza, tetanus and enterovirus vaccines to Southeast Asian markets, Adimmune said in a statement. The new company would later expand its product line to COVID-19 vaccines, it said. An overseas joint venture would facilitate clinical trials, drug permit applications and marketing of its products locally, Adimmune said, adding that it would consider establishing more bases overseas if the venture proves successful.
FUNDS
New ETF to make debut
CTBC Taiwan ESG Leading Semiconductor exchange-traded fund (ETF) beneficiary certificates are to debut on the main board tomorrow, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said yesterday. The new ETF is issued by CTBC Investments Co (中國信託投信) and its underlying index is the ICE Factset Taiwan ESG Leading Semiconductor Index, the exchange said in a news release. The ICE index is compiled and maintained by ICE Data Indices LLC to track the performance of high-quality or dividend-paying semiconductor companies listed in Taiwan, the exchange said. The index is comprised of 30 stocks, it said. Including the new ETF, there are 120 listed ETFs, tracking domestic and international exchanges’ equity, bond, commodity and other investment tools to meet investors’ diverse appetites and asset allocation purposes, the exchange said.
EQUITIES
TWSE to hold conferences
The Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) plans to hold online investors’ conferences for three foreign listed companies to give investors more information about their business performance in the first quarter of this year. HY Electronic (Cayman) Ltd (虹揚科技) and Yonggu Group Inc (永固集團) are to present their financial results and business development strategies on Tuesday next week, while Kingcan Holdings Ltd (福貞控股) is to hold a virtual conference on June 7, the exchange said in a statement. Apart from giving investors a better understanding of these companies’ operations, it is also hoped that the relationship between investors and the three firms would be enhanced, the exchange said.
CHIPMAKERS
SigmaStar planning IPO
Chipmaker SigmaStar (星宸科技) is seeking to raise at least 5 billion yuan (US$782.4 million) in an initial public offering in Shanghai, people familiar with the matter said. The start-up is working with advisers toward a share sale on the NASDAQ-style STAR board as soon as this year, the people said. The company is targeting a valuation of 30 billion yuan to 50 billion yuan, one of the people said. Founded in 2017, SigmaStar designs chips for security systems, sports cameras, self-driving vehicles and smart home devices, among other products, according to the company’s Web site. Its backers include China’s Kunqiao Capital (昆橋資本) and SummitView Capital (武岳峰資本), CB Insights has said.
HSBC Holdings PLC is deepening its commitment to Taiwan as the economy emerges as one of the bank’s fastest-growing markets globally, driven by an artificial intelligence (AI) investment boom, expanding cross-border trade, and rising wealth creation. “The advantage that Taiwan has is a growth story linked to the semiconductor and broader AI industries, strong underlying corporate performance, and wealth creation,” said Surendra Rosha, HSBC’s co-chief executive for Asia and the Middle East, in an exclusive interview with the Taipei Times on June 2, during this year’s HSBC Taiwan Conference. That combination has helped HSBC cement its position as the most profitable international
Taiwanese firms have increased investment in the Philippines in recent years as Manila’s ties with Washington deepen and global supply chains continue to shift away from China, an expert at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The Philippines had not been among Taiwanese investors’ top choices in Southeast Asia, CIER Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center director Kristy Hsu (徐遵慈) said at a seminar in Taipei. However, Taiwan’s investment in the country has grown significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching US $257 million last year, a high in recent years, she said. Although Taiwan’s total investment in the Philippines still lags
Intel Corp regards Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) as a longstanding partner, as the US chipmaker would continue outsourcing production of advanced chips to TSMC, Intel chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) said yesterday. “I don’t look at people as competitors. I look at the collaboration... Nvidia is also, you know, a good friend,” Tan told a news conference following his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei. “It’s a very trusted partnership for us... We are a big, top customer for them, and we’re going to continue doing that,” he said, referring to TSMC, the world’s largest foundry
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday said it would work with US chipmaker Intel Corp to jointly develop and deploy next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and intelligent computing platforms in a move to capture booming demand for AI computing systems. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康), said in a statement that the partnership would combine its global manufacturing scale, system integration expertise and AI data center deployment capabilities with Intel’s strengths in processor architecture, silicon technologies and software ecosystem. The companies said they plan to work on equipment used in AI data centers, including server racks powered by
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