CHINA
Tencent merger in trouble
The antitrust regulator is set to formally block Tencent Holdings Ltd’s (騰訊) plan to merge the country’s top two videogame streaming sites, Huya (虎牙) and DouYu (鬥魚), three people familiar with the matter told reporters. Tencent has failed to come up with sufficient remedies to meet the State Administration of Market Regulation’s requirements on giving up exclusive rights, two of the people said. The Internet giant recently withdrew the merger application for antitrust review and refiled it after the agency told the company that it could not complete the review of the merger within 180 days of its first filing, one of them and a separate person said.
TURKEY
Inflation beats estimates
Inflation accelerated faster than all estimates last month, reducing the likelihood of a summer interest-rate cut. Consumer prices rose an annual 17.5 percent through last month, up from 16.6 percent the previous month on the back of broad-based gains led by food, data released yesterday showed. Food inflation, which accounts for about one-quarter of the consumer basket, rose 20 percent, compared with 17 percent the previous month. It is well above the central bank’s interim target of 13 percent set for the end of the year. A core inflation index showed that prices excluding volatile items such as food and energy also climbed to an annual 17.5 percent through last month, up from 17 percent in May.
AVIATION
Sydney Airport receives bid
Sydney Airport yesterday received a multibillion-dollar takeover bid from a consortium of Australian investors, sending its share price soaring. The consortium of infrastructure investors and Australian pension funds offered A$8.25 per share — or A$22.3 billion (US$16.8 billion). The proposal “has been made during a global pandemic which has deeply affected the aviation industry and the Sydney Airport security price,” the airport’s board said in a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange. “The indicative price is below where Sydney Airport’s security price traded before the pandemic.” Sydney Airport’s share price spiked more than 30 percent on the offer, which is now being considered by the company’s board.
DELIVERY
Foodpanda Asia’s No. 1 app
Delivery Hero SE’s Foodpanda has grown into the biggest food-delivery app in Asia, excluding China, and envisions further expansion in areas such as groceries, said Jakob Angele, its chief executive officer for the Asia-Pacific region. “Not only during the COVID period, but also years before COVID, we saw year-after-year multiplying growth rates,” Angele said in an interview yesterday. Singapore-based Foodpanda said in February that it would start an online grocery delivery service called Pandamart in Cambodia, Japan, Laos and Myanmar this year after launching it in eight Asian countries last year.
INVESTMENT
Warburg eyes China assets
Warburg Pincus is creating a Chinese asset management firm to invest in distressed real-estate opportunities, with plans to garner US$5 billion in assets in five years. The US private equity firm is to work with Wensheng (文盛), one of the largest special situation asset managers in China, to create a joint venture focusing on real-estate special situation investments, including distressed assets. The two are to commit as much as US$600 million, a joint statement said yesterday.
Contract chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) yesterday said it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Polar Semiconductor LLC to collaborate on the production of 8-inch wafers in the US. The collaboration aims to strengthen 8-inch wafer manufacturing in the US amid Washington’s efforts to increase onshore manufacturing of semiconductors, contribute to supply chain resilience against shifting geopolitical dynamics, and ensure a secure domestic supply of power semiconductors critical to automotive, electric grids, robotic manufacturing and data centers, the companies said in a joint statement. Under the MOU, Polar and UMC will identify devices for Polar to manufacture at
TECH TITANS: Amazon’s latest chip joins Google in competing for the 90 percent market share held by Nvidia, which claims it is ‘a generation ahead of the industry’ Amazon Web Services (AWS) on Tuesday launched its in-house-built Trainium3 artificial intelligence (AI) chip, marking a significant push to compete with Nvidia Corp in the lucrative market for AI computing power. The move intensifies competition in the AI chip market, where Nvidia dominates with an estimated 80 to 90 percent market share for products used in training large language models that power the likes of ChatGPT. Google last week caused tremors in the industry when it was reported that Facebook-parent Meta Platforms Inc would employ Google AI chips in data centers, signaling new competition for Nvidia. This followed the release last month of
Two companies wholly owned by the daughter of the founder of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) on Monday reported to the Taiwan Stock Exchange that they would dispose of all of the Hon Hai shares they hold. In filings with the exchange, Hong Wei Investment Co (鋐維) said it would sell the 2.771 million Hon Hai shares it holds and Frontier Investment Corp (承鋒投資) said it would sell its 2.409 million Hon Hai shares from tomorrow until Jan. 3 next year. The two companies are wholly owned and chaired by Shirley Gou (郭曉玲), the eldest daughter of Hon Hai founder Terry
TARIFF TALKS: The US secretary of commerce is eyeing more than US$300 billion in investments and said Taiwan would train US workers, but Taipei has denied the latter US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said the US is expecting a large investment pledge from Taiwan in trade talks, while President William Lai (賴清德) listed areas that need improvement in order for projects to be completed. “We’re in the midst of discussions,” Lutnick said on Wednesday. “But the fact is, this administration’s goal is to bring semiconductor manufacturing to America.” Lai on Wednesday said Taiwan is supportive of US President Donald Trump’s goal of reindustrializing the US, including efforts to ramp up semiconductor production. Such a goal would require the US to reduce its reliance on Taiwan as a key source
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