China Steel Corp (中鋼), the nation’s biggest steelmaker, will seek to raise as much as US$743.53 million by issuing 37.8 million global depositary receipts (GDRs) — each of which represents 20 China Steel common shares — at an average price of US$19.67.
In a stock exchange filing yesterday, the Siaogang District (小港), Greater Kaohsiung-based company said it would use the proceeds from the GDR sale to fund the procurement of raw materials overseas.
China Steel said it would issue the GDR on Aug. 1 and it would be traded on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.
With the pricing of each GDR equivalent to NT$28.32 per common share (based on an exchange rate of NT$28.793 against the US dollar), the new shares are being sold at a 4.49 percent discount from China Steel’s closing price of NT$29.65 on Tuesday.
China Steel shares closed 1.52 percent higher yesterday at NT$30.1.
Analysts said the company might use part of the proceeds to fund a second blast furnace at Dragon Steel Corp (中龍), a China Steel unit based in Longjing District (龍井), Greater Taichung. The new furnace is under construction and is scheduled to start production in 2013.
The company might also use the proceeds to support its expansion plans for cold-rolled coils, which are used mainly in the automotive industry, as well as to make strategic investments in global mining companies that would help the firm secure a steady supply of raw materials, such as iron ore and coking coal, Citigroup Global Markets said in a note on July 18.
China Steel yesterday downplayed the potential share dilution caused by the GDR issue, saying instead the funds raised would help strengthen its balance sheet.
Citigroup estimated the potential dilution at about 6 percent, while Daiwa Capital Markets predicted a 5.9 percent dilution to its earnings per share over the next two years.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said that its investment plan in Arizona is going according to schedule, following a local media report claiming that the company is planning to break ground on its third wafer fab in the US in June. In a statement, TSMC said it does not comment on market speculation, but that its investments in Arizona are proceeding well. TSMC is investing more than US$65 billion in Arizona to build three advanced wafer fabs. The first one has started production using the 4-nanometer (nm) process, while the second one would start mass production using the
‘SILVER LINING’: Although the news caused TSMC to fall on the local market, an analyst said that as tariffs are not set to go into effect until April, there is still time for negotiations US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he would likely impose tariffs on semiconductor, automobile and pharmaceutical imports of about 25 percent, with an announcement coming as soon as April 2 in a move that would represent a dramatic widening of the US leader’s trade war. “I probably will tell you that on April 2, but it’ll be in the neighborhood of 25 percent,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club when asked about his plan for auto tariffs. Asked about similar levies on pharmaceutical drugs and semiconductors, the president said that “it’ll be 25 percent and higher, and it’ll
When an apartment comes up for rent in Germany’s big cities, hundreds of prospective tenants often queue down the street to view it, but the acute shortage of affordable housing is getting scant attention ahead of today’s snap general election. “Housing is one of the main problems for people, but nobody talks about it, nobody takes it seriously,” said Andreas Ibel, president of Build Europe, an association representing housing developers. Migration and the sluggish economy top the list of voters’ concerns, but analysts say housing policy fails to break through as returns on investment take time to register, making the
CHIP BOOM: Revenue for the semiconductor industry is set to reach US$1 trillion by 2032, opening up opportunities for the chip pacakging and testing company, it said ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控), the world’s largest provider of outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) services, yesterday launched a new advanced manufacturing facility in Penang, Malaysia, aiming to meet growing demand for emerging technologies such as generative artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The US$300 million facility is a critical step in expanding ASE’s global footprint, offering an alternative for customers from the US, Europe, Japan, South Korea and China to assemble and test chips outside of Taiwan amid efforts to diversify supply chains. The plant, the company’s fifth in Malaysia, is part of a strategic expansion plan that would more than triple
RSS