■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.
AIR DEFENSE: The Norwegian missile system has proved highly effective in Ukraine in its war against Russia, and the US has recommended it for Taiwan, an expert said The Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) Taiwan ordered from the US would be installed in strategically important positions in Taipei and New Taipei City to guard the region, the Ministry of National Defense said in statement yesterday. The air defense system would be deployed in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) and New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), the ministry said, adding that the systems could be delivered as soon as the end of this year. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency has previously said that three NASAMS would be sold to Taiwan. The weapons are part of the 17th US arms sale to
SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS: The suspects formed spy networks and paramilitary groups to kill government officials during a possible Chinese invasion, prosecutors said Prosecutors have indicted seven retired military officers, members of the Rehabilitation Alliance Party, for allegedly obtaining funds from China, and forming paramilitary groups and assassination squads in Taiwan to collaborate with Chinese troops in a possible war. The suspects contravened the National Security Act (國家安全法) by taking photos and drawing maps of key radar stations, missile installations and the American Institute in Taiwan’s headquarters in Taipei, prosecutors said. They allegedly prepared to collaborate with China during a possible invasion of Taiwan, prosecutors said. Retired military officer Chu Hung-i (屈宏義), 62, a Republic of China Army Academy graduate, went to China
INSURRECTION: The NSB said it found evidence the CCP was seeking snipers in Taiwan to target members of the military and foreign organizations in the event of an invasion The number of Chinese spies prosecuted in Taiwan has grown threefold over a four-year period, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report released yesterday. In 2021 and 2022, 16 and 10 spies were prosecuted respectively, but that number grew to 64 last year, it said, adding that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was working with gangs in Taiwan to develop a network of armed spies. Spies in Taiwan have on behalf of the CCP used a variety of channels and methods to infiltrate all sectors of the country, and recruited Taiwanese to cooperate in developing organizations and obtaining sensitive information
BREAKTHROUGH: The US is making chips on par in yield and quality with Taiwan, despite people saying that it could not happen, the official said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has begun producing advanced 4-nanometer (nm) chips for US customers in Arizona, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said, a milestone in the semiconductor efforts of the administration of US President Joe Biden. In November last year, the commerce department finalized a US$6.6 billion grant to TSMC’s US unit for semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona. “For the first time ever in our country’s history, we are making leading edge 4-nanometer chips on American soil, American workers — on par in yield and quality with Taiwan,” Raimondo said, adding that production had begun in recent
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