■ Gambling
Sands bets on Asia
Las Vegas Sands will double its investment in casinos in Macau, spending more than US$8 billion there and on a nearby island over the next four to six years, the Financial Times reported yesterday. Bill Weidner, Las Vegas Sands president and chief operating officer, told the newspaper that the development opportunities were contingent upon approvals by the territory and will occur in phases over time. He said the US company's total investments and turnover would triple as a result of its initiatives in Asia. "Most of the company's investments and revenues will be in Asia," he was quoted as saying. In Macau, the company plans to spend US$3 billion each in two phases on the Cotai Strip and is also in talks to develop nearby Heng Qin island, the report said. In May, the US gaming operator won the bid to invest more than US$3.18 billion in a casino resort in Singapore, making it one of the most expensive projects of its kind in the world. The casino is due to open in 2009.
■ Paper
Hokuetsu wants Mitsubishi
Hokuetsu Paper Mills Ltd yesterday rejected a takeover bid from Oji Paper Co that would reportedly have created the world's fifth-biggest paper maker. Hokuetsu said it will instead go ahead with a planned tie-up with Mitsubishi Corp, a deal that involves issuing shares to Mitsubishi to earn funds for capital investment and expansion. Oji, Japan's No. 1 paper producer, announced on Sunday a plan to conduct a tender offer bid for at least 50.1 percent of Hokuetsu and consolidate their operations, on the condition that Hokuetsu cancels its plan to issue new shares to Mitsubishi. The proposed takeover would have created the world's fifth-biggest paper maker, with annual sales of around ¥1.36 trillion (US$11.7 billion), the Nihon Keizai Shimbun earlier reported. Under Oji's proposal, it would pay ¥860 per Hokuetsu share, a premium of about 35 percent above Hokuetsu's closing price on Friday. Mitsubishi Corp said Friday it would invest ¥30.35 billion in Hokuetsu to help it bolster an existing plant in Niigata, northern Japan.
■ Telecoms
Yellow pages for sale
French telecommunications giant France Telecom SA said yesterday that it is in talks with investment fund Kohlberg, Kravis Roberts & Co Ltd (KKR) to sell its 54 percent stake in yellow pages service PagesJaunes. KKR's bid values PagesJaunes at 22 euro (US$27.90) per share, or 3.3 billion euro for France Telecom's stake, the French company said in a statement. The private equity fund plans to launch a buy-out offer for the remaining shares in PagesJaunes, based in Sevres, France. Such funds normally seek complete control, making it easier for them to restructure the company before reselling it. France Telecom also said that it agreed to sell its satellite services unit France Telecom Mobile Satellite Communications SA to private-equity fund Apax Partner for 60 million euros.
■ Collectables
Hello Kitty plays guitar
Hello Kitty fans in Japan now have a chance to purchase a Fender electric guitar decorated with the world's most famous cat. The Hello Kitty Stratocaster is one of three in the world. The other two were sold in the US, Sanrio Co, said yesterday. The sparkling black guitar embedded with the classic Hello Kitty face is to be priced at ¥2.52 million (US$22,000). The guitar goes on sale today at the Mitsukoshi department store in Tokyo.
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
‘ARMED GROUP’: Two defendants used Chinese funds to form the ‘Republic of China Taiwan Military Government,’ posing a threat to national security, prosecutors said A retired lieutenant general has been charged after using funds from China to recruit military personnel for an “armed” group that would assist invading Chinese forces, prosecutors said yesterday. The retired officer, Kao An-kuo (高安國), was among six people indicted for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法), the High Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement. The group visited China multiple times, separately and together, from 2018 to last year, where they met Chinese military intelligence personnel for instructions and funding “to initiate and develop organizations for China,” prosecutors said. Their actions posed a “serious threat” to “national security and social stability,” the statement
NATURAL INTERRUPTION: As cables deteriorate, core wires snap in progression along the cable, which does not happen if they are hit by an anchor, an official said Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) immediately switched to a microwave backup system to maintain communications between Taiwan proper and Lienchiang County (Matsu) after two undersea cables malfunctioned due to natural deterioration, the Ministry of Digital Affairs told an emergency news conference yesterday morning. Two submarine cables connecting Taiwan proper and the outlying county — the No. 2 and No. 3 Taiwan-Matsu cables — were disconnected early yesterday morning and on Wednesday last week respectively, the nation’s largest telecom said. “After receiving the report that the No. 2 cable had failed, the ministry asked Chunghwa Telecom to immediately activate a microwave backup system, with
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