Struggling Japanese consumer electronics firm Laox Co is in talks to sell a stake of around 30 percent to Chinese retail chain owner Suning Appliances (蘇寧電器), a report said yesterday.
The deal would make Laox the first big Japanese retailer to become a Chinese company’s affiliate, the Nikkei Shimbun economic daily said.
Under the plan, Laox would issue roughly ¥1.5 billion (US$15 million) in shares, representing a more than 50 percent stake, to a Japanese firm acting as a go-between, the daily said without citing sources.
Suning would then take 30 percent from the go-between to become Laox’s principal shareholder with board representation, it said, adding that an announcement would be made as early as next week.
Suning, China’s second-largest home appliance chain, is hoping to learn business practices, such as pricing policies and customer service, from working in the Japanese consumer electronics retail market, the report said.
Laox would likely use the funds raised from the share issuance to revitalize stores, it said.
The Japanese company said it is negotiating with several companies for new share issuance but declined to elaborate further.
Suning yesterday commented on the report in a statement filed with the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
“Laox recently proposed cooperation with the Company [Suning], and the Company has been in touch with Laox on the issues of industry development and bilateral cooperation,” Suning said. “However, the Company has not signed any binding legal document with Laox.”
“If there is any further development concerning cooperation with Laox, the Company will go through all the approval procedures and release information as required by the rules in a timely and accurate manner,” it said.
SILICON VALLEY HUB: The office would showcase Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and help Taiwanese start-ups connect with global opportunities Taiwan has established an office in Palo Alto, one of the principal cities of Silicon Valley in California, aimed at helping Taiwanese technology start-ups gain global visibility, the National Development Council said yesterday. The “Startup Island Taiwan Silicon Valley hub” at No. 299 California Avenue is focused on “supporting start-ups and innovators by providing professional consulting, co-working spaces, and community platforms,” the council said in a post on its Web site. The office is the second overseas start-up hub established by the council, after a similar site was set up in Tokyo in September last year. Representatives from Taiwanese start-ups, local businesses and
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
INDUSTRIAL CLUSTER: In Germany, the sector would be developed around Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s plant, and extend to Poland and the Czech Republic The Executive Yuan’s economic diplomacy task force has approved programs aimed at bolstering the nation’s chip diplomacy with Japan and European nations. The task force in its first meeting had its operational mechanism and organizational structure confirmed, with Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) the convener, and Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) and Minister Without Portfolio Ma Yung-cheng (馬永成) the deputy conveners. Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) would be the convener of the task force’s strategy group in charge of policy planning for economic diplomacy. The meeting was attended by the heads of the National Development Council, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the
RSS