TECHNOLOGY
Start-up raises US$200m
Lenskart, an online retailer for eyewear, raised US$220 million from investors including Temasek Holdings Pte and Falcon Edge Capital, in another sign of booming interest in India’s technology start-ups. Founded by Peyush Bansal in 2010, the company sells eyeglasses, contact lenses and sunglasses online and through about 750 retail outlets in the country. It plans to use the capital, along with US$95 million raised earlier this year from KKR & Co, to expand online sales and add brick-and-mortar stores in India, as well as in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. The start-up’s valuation is US$2.5 billion, the founder said.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Partners to buy Pharmathen
Partners Group Holding AG has agreed to acquire Pharmathen SA from BC Partners in a deal valuing the European generic drugmaker at about 1.6 billion euros (US$1.9 billion), BC Partners announced in a statement yesterday. Founded in 1969 in Athens, Pharmathen develops and manufactures generic drugs that can be administered by tablets, drops and injection. Last year, the company had more than 30 products lined up for launch, with a focus on the lucrative US market, according to a company video. BC Partners acquired Pharmathen from its founding family for 475 million euros in 2015.
MANUFACTURING
Bosch doubts Munich plant
Robert Bosch GmbH is considering closing a plant in Munich that makes components for cars powered by internal combustion engines, local newspaper Merkur said on Sunday. Germany’s coming transition from combustion to electric cars would lead to “considerable overcapacity and the need for adjustment,” said a company spokeswoman cited by Merkur. Demand for the plant’s products, which include electric fuel pumps and injection valves, would decline in the next couple of years, weakening the site’s competitiveness, according to an internal document quoted by Merkur.
ENERGY
Equinor bids on ScotWind
Equinor submitted a bid for an offshore floating wind power project in Scotland’s leasing round, it said yesterday. The company would meet fierce competition for leases, with the Scottish program attracting interest from offshore wind developers and oil producers seeking to increase their renewable power portfolios. The ScotWind leasing round is a good strategic fit with our ambition to expand North Sea offshore wind capacity, Equinor said in a statement. The firm already operates the small Hywind floating offshore wind farm (30 megawatt), off the northeast coast of Scotland, and is a partner in several other British offshore wind farms.
UNITED KINGDOM
Britain to release trade plan
Britain was yesterday to set out a plan to stimulate trade with 70 developing economies by lowering tariffs and simplifying rules, its latest push to promote freer global commerce after regaining control of its trade policy following Brexit. The government would detail the Developing Countries Trading Scheme in a consultation document. The plan builds on an existing EU scheme that Britain was part of before leaving the bloc at the end of last year and has kept in place while working on its new program. “Now the UK is an independent trading nation we have a huge opportunity do things differently, taking a more liberal, pro-trade approach that leads to growth and opportunity,” Secretary of State for International Trade Liz Truss said.
The US dollar was trading at NT$29.7 at 10am today on the Taipei Foreign Exchange, as the New Taiwan dollar gained NT$1.364 from the previous close last week. The NT dollar continued to rise today, after surging 3.07 percent on Friday. After opening at NT$30.91, the NT dollar gained more than NT$1 in just 15 minutes, briefly passing the NT$30 mark. Before the US Department of the Treasury's semi-annual currency report came out, expectations that the NT dollar would keep rising were already building. The NT dollar on Friday closed at NT$31.064, up by NT$0.953 — a 3.07 percent single-day gain. Today,
‘SHORT TERM’: The local currency would likely remain strong in the near term, driven by anticipated US trade pressure, capital inflows and expectations of a US Fed rate cut The US dollar is expected to fall below NT$30 in the near term, as traders anticipate increased pressure from Washington for Taiwan to allow the New Taiwan dollar to appreciate, Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) chief economist Lin Chi-chao (林啟超) said. Following a sharp drop in the greenback against the NT dollar on Friday, Lin told the Central News Agency that the local currency is likely to remain strong in the short term, driven in part by market psychology surrounding anticipated US policy pressure. On Friday, the US dollar fell NT$0.953, or 3.07 percent, closing at NT$31.064 — its lowest level since Jan.
The New Taiwan dollar and Taiwanese stocks surged on signs that trade tensions between the world’s top two economies might start easing and as US tech earnings boosted the outlook of the nation’s semiconductor exports. The NT dollar strengthened as much as 3.8 percent versus the US dollar to 30.815, the biggest intraday gain since January 2011, closing at NT$31.064. The benchmark TAIEX jumped 2.73 percent to outperform the region’s equity gauges. Outlook for global trade improved after China said it is assessing possible trade talks with the US, providing a boost for the nation’s currency and shares. As the NT dollar
PRESSURE EXPECTED: The appreciation of the NT dollar reflected expectations that Washington would press Taiwan to boost its currency against the US dollar, dealers said Taiwan’s export-oriented semiconductor and auto part manufacturers are expecting their margins to be affected by large foreign exchange losses as the New Taiwan dollar continued to appreciate sharply against the US dollar yesterday. Among major semiconductor manufacturers, ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光), the world’s largest integrated circuit (IC) packaging and testing services provider, said that whenever the NT dollar rises NT$1 against the greenback, its gross margin is cut by about 1.5 percent. The NT dollar traded as strong as NT$29.59 per US dollar before trimming gains to close NT$0.919, or 2.96 percent, higher at NT$30.145 yesterday in Taipei trading
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