AUTOMAKERS
Tesla cuts China prices
Electric vehicle giant Tesla Inc has cut starter prices for its Model 3 and Model Y vehicles by as much as 9 percent in China, listings on the company’s Chinese Web site showed yesterday. The starting price for the Model 3 sedan was reduced to 265,900 yuan (US$36,727) from 279,900 yuan, while that for Model Y sport utility vehicle was cut to 288,900 yuan from 316,900 yuan, the Web site showed. Tesla has been adjusting the prices in line with costs, the company told Reuters in a statement. Capacity utilization at its Shanghai Gigafactory has improved, while the supply chain remains stable, leading to lower costs, it said. The price cut is the first by Tesla in China this year, after it raised the prices for the two models earlier in the year due to rising raw material costs.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Sumitovant to buy Myovant
A fully owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Pharma Co agreed to buy the rest of drugmaker Myovant Sciences Ltd for US$1.7 billion after raising its offer, as it seeks to bolster the development of medicines for women’s health and prostate cancer. Sumitovant Biopharma Ltd, which already owns 52 percent of Myovant, offered US$27 a share cash for the rest of Myovant — 10 percent more than the drugmaker’s closing on Friday, Osaka-based Sumitomo Pharma said in a statement yesterday. The acquisition represents an enterprise value of US$2.9 billion for Myovant, it said. The transaction is scheduled to close in the first quarter of next year, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals, Sumitomo Pharma said.
AVIATION
Riyadh, Airbus in talks
Saudi Arabia is in advanced negotiations to order almost 40 A350 jets from Europe’s Airbus SE as part of strategic efforts to launch a new airline and challenge heavyweight carriers in the Persian Gulf, industry sources said. If confirmed, the purchase by the sovereign Public Investment Fund, worth US$12 billion at list prices, could be announced as early as this week when Riyadh hosts a major forum, the Future Investment Initiative, the sources said. It remained unclear whether Boeing Co would also seize part of a substantial shopping list for the new airline, which would be named RIA, the sources said. One source familiar with the negotiations said that it was “not over yet.” The fund has been negotiating to buy about 75 jets and another source said the kingdom was leaning toward the Boeing 787.
SHIPPING
MSC to buy Italian firm
Shipping giant Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) is to buy Italy’s Rimorchiatori Mediterranei SpA, an e-mailed statement said on Sunday. Deal terms were not disclosed. Through its unit SAS Shipping Agencies Services Sarl, MSC agreed to acquire 100 percent of Rimorchiatori Mediterranei — an international towage operator active in Italy, Malta, Singapore, Malaysia, Norway, Greece and Colombia — from Rimorchiatori Riuniti and a fund managed by DWS’ Infrastructure Investment business, it said in the statement. MSC, the shipping company founded by Gianluigi Aponte, has been recently active in the Italian transport market, where in partnership with Deutsche Lufthansa AG it missed out in the bidding for Alitalia successor ITA Airways as Italy’s government instead selected an investor group led by US fund Certares Management LLC.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday obtained the government’s approval to inject an additional US$7.5 billion into its US subsidiary, the Department of Investment Review said in a statement. The department approved TSMC’s application of investing in TSMC Arizona Corp, which is engaged in the manufacturing, sales, testing and design of IC and other semiconductor devices, it said. The latest capital injection follows a US$5 billion investment for TSMC Arizona approved in June. The chipmaker has broken ground on two advanced fabs in Arizona with aggregated investments approved by the department totaling US$24 billion thus far. According to TSMC, the first Arizona
The lethal hack of Hezbollah’s Asian-branded pagers and walkie-talkies has sparked an intense search for the devices’ path, revealing a murky market for older technologies where buyers might have few assurances about what they are getting. While supply chains and distribution channels for higher-margin and newer products are tightly managed, that is not the case for older electronics from Asia where counterfeiting, surplus inventories and complex contract manufacturing deals can sometimes make it impossible to identify the source of a product, analysts and consultants say. The response from the companies at the center of the booby-trapped gadgets that killed 37
FRIENDLY TAKEOVER: While Qualcomm Inc’s proposal to buy some or all of Intel raises the prospect of other competitors, Broadcom Inc is staying on the sidelines Qualcomm Inc has approached Intel Corp to discuss a potential acquisition of the struggling chipmaker, people with knowledge of the matter said, raising the prospect of one of the biggest-ever merger and acquisition deals. California-based Qualcomm proposed a friendly takeover for Intel in recent days, said the sources, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. The proposal is for all of the chipmaker, although Qualcomm has not ruled out buying some parts of Intel and selling off others. It is uncertain whether the initial approach would lead to an agreement and any deal is likely to come under close antitrust scrutiny
SECURITY CONCERNS: The proposed ban on Chinese autonomous vehicle software and hardware would go into effect with the 2027 and 2030 model years respectively The US Department of Commerce today is expected to propose prohibiting Chinese software and hardware in connected and autonomous vehicles on US roads due to national security concerns, two sources said. US President Joe Biden’s administration has raised concerns about the collection of data by Chinese companies on US drivers and infrastructure as well as the potential foreign manipulation of vehicles connected to the Internet and navigation systems. The proposed regulation would ban the import and sale of vehicles from China with key communications or automated driving system software or hardware, said the two sources, who declined to be identified because the