■ Computers
Hynix invests in China
Hynix Semiconductor Inc, the world's second-largest maker of computer memory chips, said it plans to spend 196.5 billion won (US$200 million) on a chip-making venture in China with STMicroelectronics NV. Hynix plans to invest the amount for 67 percent of Hynix-ST Semiconductor Ltd, Ichon, South Korea-based Hynix said in a regulatory filing in Seoul yesterday. Combined with STMicro's purchase of the remaining stake, the total equity investment in the venture will probably be 351 billion won, the statement said. The two companies, which will build the memory-chip plant in Wuxi, eastern China, said in 2004 that the total equity investment would amount to about US$375 million. Hynix and STMicro are betting on a growing appetite for chips from Chinese companies such as Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想).
■ Economy
Japanese figures revised
The Japanese economy's strong growth in the fourth quarter of last year was yesterday revised down a notch to 1.3 percent, or 5.4 percent in annualized terms, the Cabinet Office said. The performance by the world's second largest economy, which has been in the doldrums for much of the past decade, is still nearly five times faster than the US, which saw 1.1 percent annualized growth in the same period. The figures have raised hopes that Japan has come definitively out of its slump. Last week, the Bank of Japan ended its unusual five-year emergency policy of flooding the financial system with cash to provide virtually free credit. The government had originally estimated 1.4 percent growth for the October to December quarter or 5.5 percent on an annualized basis.
■ Retail
Department stores sold
Australia's largest retailer, Coles Myer Ltd, announced yesterday it is selling its Myer department store chain to investment group Newbridge Capital and a company run by the Myer family for A$1.4 billion (US$1 billion). The sale of the chain of 61 Myer stores is expected to be complete in the coming months, said Coles Myer chairman Rick Allert. Allert said the decision to sell the Myer stores was driven by the Coles Myer board's belief the company's food and liquor business and Myer will perform better separately.
■ Pharmaceuticals
Merck makes bid for rival
German drug and chemical maker Merck KGaA has made a cash bid for the takeover of domestic rival Schering AG in a multibillion euro deal, Schering said on Sunday. In a brief statement, Schering AG said it had received an offer of 77 euros (US$91.78) per share from Merck KGaA. "After the information about the approach became public, the executive board of Schering AG stated that this offer significantly undervalues Schering and its prospects as an independent specialized pharmaceutical company," Schering said. Though Schering did not term the bid hostile, it said the company "also confirmed the approach is unsolicited and that no negotiations are ongoing with Merck KGaA." According to an online report in Manager-Magazin.de, the approximately 130 Merck family members who own 73 percent of the company would float 20 percent of their shares on the stock exchange and use the proceeds plus 2 billion euros in cash in the bid for Berlin-based Schering.
Taiwan has arranged for about 8 million barrels of crude oil, or about one-third of its monthly needs, to be shipped from the Red Sea this month to bypass the Strait of Hormuz and ease domestic supply pressures, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) said yesterday. The state-run oil company has worked with Middle Eastern suppliers to secure routes other than the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas typically passes, CPC chairman Fang Jeng-zen (方振仁) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei. Suppliers in Saudi Arabia have indicated they
South Korea has adjusted its electronic arrival card system to no longer list Taiwan as a part of China, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would help facilitate exchanges between the two sides. South Korea previously listed “Taiwan” as “Taiwan (China)” in the drop-down menus of its online arrival card system, where people had to fill out where they came from and their next destination. The ministry had requested South Korea make a revision and said it would change South Korea’s name on Taiwan’s online immigration system from “Republic of Korea” to “Korea (South),” should the issue not be
CCP ‘PAWN’? Beijing could use the KMT chairwoman’s visit to signal to the world that many people in Taiwan support the ‘one China’ principle, an academic said Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday arrived in China for a “peace” mission and potential meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), while a Taiwanese minister detailed the number of Chinese warships currently deployed around the nation. Cheng is visiting at a time of increased Chinese military pressure on Taiwan, as the opposition-dominated Legislative Yuan stalls a government plan for US$40 billion in extra defense spending. Speaking to reporters before going to the airport, Cheng said she was going on a “historic journey for peace,” but added that some people felt uneasy about her trip. “If you truly love Taiwan,
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
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