■BIOTECHNOLOGY
Genzyme rejects takeover
The board of directors at US biotechnology firm Genzyme has unanimously rejected an US$18.5 billion takeover offer from French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi-Aventis, Genzyme said on Monday. A letter to Sanofi management, signed by Genzyme chief executive Henri Termeer, recalled that the board had turned down an earlier offer on Aug. 11. The latest proposal, Genzyme said in a statement, “provides no new information and no improvement in price and therefore fails to establish a basis for engagement by the Genzyme board.” It added that the board was “not prepared to engage in merger negotiations with Sanofi based upon an opportunistic proposal with an unrealistic starting price that dramatically undervalues our company.”
■INSURANCE
Aegon makes loan payment
Insurer Aegon NV said yesterday it has repaid 500 million euros (US$635 million), plus interest, to the Dutch state for the support it received at the height of the 2008 financial crisis. Based in the Hague, the Netherlands, Aegon earlier this year paid back 1 billion euros and last month the company struck a deal with EU regulators to repay the rest — “market conditions permitting” — by the end of 2011, including yesterday’s installment. Yesterday’s payment included an extra 63 million euros in premiums and interest. As part of the deal with the EU, Aegon agreed to keep its dividends frozen and not pursue any acquisitions until the money is paid back.
■ BANKING
HSBC out of US auto finance
British bank HSBC Holdings PLC said yesterday it has sold its last US auto finance businesses to Spain’s Santander for about US$3.56 billion in cash, completing its exit from a market that cost it billions during the financial crisis. On top of the payment, the Santander Consumer USA Inc unit is assuming US$431 million in debt, HSBC said. The loan book acquired by Santander was valued at US$4.3 billion. The deal follows a similar move in March, when Santander acquired US$1 billion in auto finance loan receivables from HSBC.
■ ADVERTISING
Bertelsmann posts profit
Improving European advertising markets and cost-cutting efforts helped Bertelsmann AG to a net profit in the first half, prompting the media group to raise its full-year forecast yesterday. Bertelsmann — whose assets include the RTL Group television division, book publisher Random House and magazine publisher Gruner + Jahr — said it earned 170 million euros in the January to June period, compared with a loss of 368 million euros a year earlier. Revenue, adjusted to take account of the sale this year of Britain’s Channel Five television, rose to 7.36 billion euros from last year’s 7.09 billion euros, the company said.
■ MINING
Coal India IPO next month
State-run Coal India said yesterday its giant initial public offering (IPO), set to raise billions of US dollars and possibly become India’s biggest ever share sale, is due to start next month. The country’s largest coal miner plans to sell 10 percent of its government-held equity as part of New Delhi’s plan to raise a record US$8.5 billion from asset sales by March next year. The IPO will start on Oct. 18 for four-days, company chairman Partha Bhattacharyya told reporters yesterday. Bankers have estimated that the issue could raise more than US$3 billion.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
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