E. Sun Financial Holding Co (玉山金控) yesterday inked a deal to buy Chiayi Fourth Credit Cooperative Association (嘉義第四信用合作社) for NT$110 million (US$3.72 million) to expand its service network, customer base and earnings, the company said in a stock filing.
The expansion move came less than a year after the financial service provider acquired Chu Nan Credit-Cooperative Association (竹南信用合作社) to lift its standing in Taiwan’s overcrowded and fragmented market.
The acquisition, which still needs approval from the companies’ respective shareholders and the Financial Supervisory Commission, is tentatively slated to take effect on Nov. 3 this year, the filing said.
E. Sun Commercial Bank (玉山銀行), the surviving entity, will take over all Chiayi Credit Cooperative’s assets except for 70 pieces of real estate that the latter promised to sell by the end of October, the filing said.
E. Sun Bank, the group’s main source of income, has sought to increase its scale and become one of the top three credit card issuers this year, from fourth place after Chinatrust Commercial Bank (中國信託商銀), Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) and Taishin International Bank (台新銀行), E. Sun Financial president Joseph Huang (黃男州) said last month.
Unlike foreign lenders that target affluent Taiwanese, E. Sun Bank has reached out to middle-income earners.
The lender partnered with China’s leading online payment service provider, Alipay (支付寶), on Tuesday, in a joint effort to tap e-commerce opportunities across the Taiwan Strait.
Last month, it entered cooperation with US nutrition and skin-care product supplier Herbalife, after securing a credit card alliance with Carrefour Taiwan (家樂福), the largest hypermarket chain operator in Taiwan last year.
The company’s ambitions are not limited to Taiwan, as the bank’s board yesterday approved plans to sign cooperation agreements with China’s Bank of Communications Co (交通銀行) and China Merchants Bank Co (招商銀行), paving the way for its expansion in China, the parent company said in two extra filings.
In a separate filing, the board of Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行), a subsidiary of Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控), gave its approval to plans to set up a branch in Qindao, Shandong Province, in northeastern China.
The planned new branch will strengthen Cathay United Bank’s bancassurance business, the filing said.
EARLY TALKS: Measures under consideration include convincing allies to match US curbs, further restricting exports of AI chips or GPUs, and blocking Chinese investments US President Donald Trump’s administration is sketching out tougher versions of US semiconductor curbs and pressuring key allies to escalate their restrictions on China’s chip industry, an early indication the new US president plans to expand efforts that began under former US president Joe Biden to limit Beijing’s technological prowess. Trump officials recently met with their Japanese and Dutch counterparts about restricting Tokyo Electron Ltd and ASML Holding NV engineers from maintaining semiconductor gear in China, people familiar with the matter said. The aim, which was also a priority for Biden, is to see key allies match China curbs the US
The popular Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) arbitrage trade might soon see a change in dynamics that could affect the trading of the US listing versus the local one. And for anyone who wants to monetize the elevated premium, Goldman Sachs Group Inc highlights potential trades. A note from the bank’s sales desk published on Friday said that demand for TSMC’s Taipei-traded stock could rise as Taiwan’s regulator is considering an amendment to local exchange-traded funds’ (ETFs) ownership. The changes, which could come in the first half of this year, could push up the current 30 percent single-stock weight limit
NOT TO WORRY: Some people are concerned funds might continue moving out of the country, but the central bank said financial account outflows are not unusual in Taiwan Taiwan’s outbound investments hit a new high last year due to investments made by contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and other major manufacturers to boost global expansion, the central bank said on Thursday. The net increase in outbound investments last year reached a record US$21.05 billion, while the net increase in outbound investments by Taiwanese residents reached a record US$31.98 billion, central bank data showed. Chen Fei-wen (陳斐紋), deputy director of the central bank’s Department of Economic Research, said the increase was largely due to TSMC’s efforts to expand production in the US and Japan. Investments by Vanguard International
‘SACRED MOUNTAIN’: The chipmaker can form joint ventures abroad, except in China, but like other firms, it needs government approval for large investments Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) needs government permission for any overseas joint ventures (JVs), but there are no restrictions on making the most advanced chips overseas other than for China, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. US media have said that TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker and a major supplier to companies such as Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp, has been in talks for a stake in Intel Corp. Neither company has confirmed the talks, but US President Donald Trump has accused Taiwan of taking away the US’ semiconductor business and said he wants the industry back
RSS