■FINANCE
JPMorgan eyes Brazil firm
JPMorgan Chase & Co is in talks to buy a large Brazilian asset management company, the Financial Times reported yesterday. Citing people close to the situation, the paper said the New York-based bank was in advanced discussions to buy Gavea Investimentos, which manages about US$5.3 billion in assets. No agreement has been reached between JPMorgan and Gavea, founded by Arminio Fraga, a former president of Brazil’s central bank, but a purchase could be announced as soon as next month if talks are successful, the paper said. Meanwhile, company analysts cut their earnings per share estimates for global investment banks this year and next year by 6 percent and 3 percent respectively, citing the effect of Europe’s sovereign debt crisis. An increase in volatility and risk aversion has affected the equities business revenue more than fixed income and currency operations, Kian Abouhossein wrote in a report yesterday.
■CHEMICALS
BASF to buy Cognis: report
German chemical giant BASF is set to buy German specialty chemicals maker Cognis for 3.2 billion euros (US$4 billion), the Financial Times Deutschland reported yesterday. A final examination of Cognis’ accounts has been completed and an agreement should be signed today, according to the paper, which cited people close to the matter. Cognis’ owners, US investment bank Goldman Sachs and an investment fund, have been holding exclusive talks with BASF, although several companies initially showed interest. Cognis manufactures chemical additives used in a wide range of products from adhesives to cosmetics and lubricants.
■FINANCE
Jupiter rises on return
British fund manager Jupiter returned to the London stock exchange yesterday, riding buoyant markets to debut 15 percent over the price set in an initial public offering (IPO) last week. Jupiter raised £220 million (US$326.3 million) to pay off debt and secured a £33.5 million windfall for selling shareholders in its IPO, priced at £1.65. The shares were changing hands at around £1.90 in early trades yesterday morning, after already soaring above that level in gray market trading last week. Jupiter’s flotation marks its second outing on the London market, after it first listed in 1991 before being taken private in 1995, when it was bought by Commerzbank. Ownership passed to staff in a management buyout backed by private equity firm TA Associates in 2007, and a motive behind last week’s initial offering was to refinance the debt issued as part of the transaction.
■FINANCE
Gulf Investment clears debt
An investment company owned by six Gulf Arab nations said it had fully paid back US$500 million in debt that was due this week. Yesterday’s announcement by the Gulf Investment Corp comes amid intense scrutiny over the region’s ability to pay back lenders. Companies still able to cover their debts are eager to distinguish themselves from less healthy borrowers in the wake of credit problems in Dubai and elsewhere in the oil-rich region. Kuwait-based Gulf Investment said it paid off the loans using cash it had saved up to manage its debt pile. The financial services company is owned by the six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said. The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology. Two-nanometer wafers are the most
NEW GEAR: On top of the new Tien Kung IV air defense missiles, the military is expected to place orders for a new combat vehicle next year for delivery in 2028 Mass production of Tien Kung IV (Sky Bow IV) missiles is expected to start next year, with plans to order 122 pods, the Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) latest list of regulated military material showed. The document said that the armed forces would obtain 46 pods of the air defense missiles next year and 76 pods the year after that. The Tien Kung IV is designed to intercept cruise missiles and ballistic missiles to an altitude of 70km, compared with the 60km maximum altitude achieved by the Missile Segment Enhancement variant of PAC-3 systems. A defense source said yesterday that the number of
A bipartisan group of US representatives have introduced a draft US-Taiwan Defense Innovation Partnership bill, aimed at accelerating defense technology collaboration between Taiwan and the US in response to ongoing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The bill was introduced by US representatives Zach Nunn and Jill Tokuda, with US House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party Chairman John Moolenaar and US Representative Ashley Hinson joining as original cosponsors, a news release issued by Tokuda’s office on Thursday said. The draft bill “directs the US Department of Defense to work directly with Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense through their respective
Tsunami waves were possible in three areas of Kamchatka in Russia’s Far East, the Russian Ministry for Emergency Services said yesterday after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit the nearby Kuril Islands. “The expected wave heights are low, but you must still move away from the shore,” the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app, after the latest seismic activity in the area. However, the Pacific Tsunami Warning System in Hawaii said there was no tsunami warning after the quake. The Russian tsunami alert was later canceled. Overnight, the Krasheninnikov volcano in Kamchatka erupted for the first time in 600 years, Russia’s RIA
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