PChome Online Inc (網路家庭) is planning a private placement to seek strategic investors for its long-term development and collaboration across sectors, the e-commerce company said at a news conference at the Taipei Exchange on Friday.
The company plans to raise NT$1 billion (US$36.05 million) from China Development Financial Holding Corp (中華開發金控), Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) and the management team of 21st Century Digital Technology Co (廿一世紀數位), it said after gaining approval from its board of directors earlier that day.
Private placement refers to the sale of a large tranche of securities to a small group of investors. In such a transaction, buyers sign an investment letter stating that the securities would not be resold for a specified period of time.
Photo: CNA
In PChome’s case, the sale of 9,376,463 common shares — at NT$106.65 per share — to the three strategic investors accounts for 7.35 percent of its outstanding shares, it said.
“By leveraging the experiences and resources on financial services and valuable telecom big data, as well as its AI-enablement technology from the strategic investors, PChome anticipates to accelerate the data-driven digital transformation to not only reinforce its fintech ecosystems, specifically on e-commerce and fintech solutions, but also optimize its fintech subsidiary organization through this strategic partnership,” the company said in a statement.
To integrate resources and promote cooperation to enhance shareholders’ interests, PChome said its board also approved a plan to obtain about 50 percent of the shares in 21st Century Digital.
Based on their agreement, PChome plans to invest about NT$2.16 billion and exchange shares of its mobile payment arm Pi Mobile Technology Inc (拍付國際) to secure about 10.28 million common shares of 21st Century Digital, while 21st Century Digital is to acquire 34.49 million common shares of Pi Mobile through share swap.
One share of Pi Mobile is worth 0.298 common shares of 21st Century Digital, PChome said.
21st Century Digital is a service provider in the digital consumer fintech field. It mainly provides “buy now pay later” (BNPL) services, including installment payments and mortgage loans through their own online platform, offline channels and e-commerce Web site.
The company was established in 2016 with a capitalization of NT$380 million. Last year, it obtained investment from CDIB Venture Capital Corp (中華開發創業投資) to develop a long-term partnership with a subsidiary of China Development Financial Holding. This year, the company’s BNPL service, Gogopay (分期趣), officially launched on PChome’s platform.
The investment in 21st Century is to occur after the completion of the private placement, PChome said.
Semiconductor business between Taiwan and the US is a “win-win” model for both sides given the high level of complementarity, the government said yesterday responding to tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Home to the world’s largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), Taiwan is a key link in the global technology supply chain for companies such as Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp. Trump said on Monday he plans to impose tariffs on imported chips, pharmaceuticals and steel in an effort to get the producers to make them in the US. “Taiwan and the US semiconductor and other technology industries
SMALL AND EFFICIENT: The Chinese AI app’s initial success has spurred worries in the US that its tech giants’ massive AI spending needs re-evaluation, a market strategist said Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up DeepSeek’s (深度求索) eponymous AI assistant rocketed to the top of Apple Inc’s iPhone download charts, stirring doubts in Silicon Valley about the strength of the US’ technological dominance. The app’s underlying AI model is widely seen as competitive with OpenAI and Meta Platforms Inc’s latest. Its claim that it cost much less to train and develop triggered share moves across Asia’s supply chain. Chinese tech firms linked to DeepSeek, such as Iflytek Co (科大訊飛), surged yesterday, while chipmaking tool makers like Advantest Corp slumped on the potential threat to demand for Nvidia Corp’s AI accelerators. US stock
The US Federal Reserve is expected to announce a pause in rate cuts on Wednesday, as policymakers look to continue tackling inflation under close and vocal scrutiny from US President Donald Trump. The Fed cut its key lending rate by a full percentage point in the final four months of last year and indicated it would move more cautiously going forward amid an uptick in inflation away from its long-term target of 2 percent. “I think they will do nothing, and I think they should do nothing,” Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis former president Jim Bullard said. “I think the
Cryptocurrencies gave a lukewarm reception to US President Donald Trump’s first policy moves on digital assets, notching small gains after he commissioned a report on regulation and a crypto reserve. Bitcoin has been broadly steady since Trump took office on Monday and was trading at about US$105,000 yesterday as some of the euphoria around a hoped-for revolution in cryptocurrency regulation ebbed. Smaller cryptocurrency ether has likewise had a fairly steady week, although was up 5 percent in the Asia day to US$3,420. Bitcoin had been one of the most spectacular “Trump trades” in financial markets, gaining 50 percent to break above US$100,000 and
RSS