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Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 |
AsiaViews, Edition: 46/VI/February2010
Sumitomo Corp. announced Monday it will make a public tender offer of 139,500 yen ($1,548) a share for Jupiter Telecommunications Co. (J:COM), Japan's largest cable TV provider, to become the company's top shareholder.
The trading company's offer runs from March 3 to April 14, escalating competition with telecom firm KDDI Corp., which has also vowed to take control of J:COM. Sumitomo currently is J:COM's second-largest shareholder with a 27.7-percent stake.
On Friday, KDDI will buy 31.1 percent of J:COM shares from J:COM's current top shareholder, U.S. media company Liberty Global Inc.
Sumitomo's share price offer is the same as what KDDI will pay Liberty Global.
Through its public tender offer, Sumitomo, which founded J:COM with Liberty Global in 1995, wants to own 34 to 40 percent of J:COM stock. The deal could cost the firm as much as 122.1 billion yen.
"The cable TV market still has potential for growth. Under our leadership, J:COM's corporate value will rise," said Yoshio Osawa, a Sumitomo managing executive officer.
The Asahi Shimbun 17 February 2010
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 )
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On business
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Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 |
AsiaViews, Edition: 46/VI/February2010
Mitsubishi Corp. said it has purchased rights to a mining area for uranium in Canada for about 1.1 billion yen ($12.2 million).
The trading company, anticipating a spurt in construction of nuclear plants worldwide, said it wanted to shore up its supply of uranium.
In 2008, it made a similar investment in Australia. In 2009, it embarked on uranium exploration in Mongolia.
In Canada, Mitsubishi acquired rights to the West McArthur mining area from CanAlaska Uranium Ltd., a Canadian uranium exploration company. The area is part of the Athabasca Basin that accounts for about 20 percent of the world's uranium production.
The Asahi Shimbun 17 February 2010
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 )
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Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 |
AsiaViews, Edition: 46/VI/February2010
Toyota Motor Corp. is preparing to halt production at two of its plants in the United States, following a series of safety recalls that have impacted sales and damaged the automaker's global reputation for reliability.
Company sources said production would be suspended for a total of 14 days between late February and April at the company's Kentucky and Texas plants.
The two plants manufacture some of the models that have been subject to a recall due to problems with gas pedals.
Partly due to the recall, Toyota's sales in the United States in January fell by 8.7 percent over January 2009.
Toyota will begin repairs for brake problems in its SAI and Lexus HS250h models from Wednesday, company sources said.
The repairs will be part of the recall announced last week by Toyota to cover four hybrid vehicles, including the popular Prius. Repair work on Prius cars began last week, but Toyota officials had been working on revising the computer program used in the anti-lock braking system installed in the SAI and Lexus HS250h.
The recall will cover 10,820 SAI cars and 12,423 Lexus HS250h cars in Japan.
Toyota President Akio Toyoda will hold a news conference Wednesday evening at the Tokyo head office with Executive Vice President Shinichi Sasaki, who is in charge of quality control, to explain what the company is doing.
It will be Toyoda's third news conference in less than two weeks concerning massive recalls due to problems with gas pedals and brakes.
Toyoda is expected to outline the establishment of a special committee for global quality which he will head. Toyoda announced at a Feb. 5 news conference that he would set up such a special committee to look into specific measures to improve quality.
Toyota began repairs for about 200,000 Prius cars in Japan from Feb. 10. Company officials had promised on Feb. 9 that 90 percent of those cars would be repaired within three months. Toyota officials are expected to announce how much progress has been made so far at Wednesday's news conference.
Toyota cancelled an event originally scheduled for Monday in Tokyo to mark the launch of the redesigned Passo small car due to the fallout from the massive recall.
The Passo was redesigned with young female customers in mind.
The Passo will sell for between 1 million yen ($10,978) and 1.47 million yen, tax inclusive, in Japan. Fuel economy has also been improved by between 5 and 17 percent.
The company had also suspended advertising for the hybrid models that have been recalled due to the braking problem.
The Asahi Shimbun 17 February 2010
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 )
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Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 |
AsiaViews, Edition: 46/VI/February2010
BAOSHAN Iron and Steel Co raised March prices for major products by as much as 7.4 percent in response to higher demand and rising costs as well as to recoup some losses when it unexpectedly suspended price increases in February.
Hot-rolled coil for March delivery increased by 300 yuan (US$44) a ton, or 7.4 percent, from February, while prices for cold-rolled products also rose 300 yuan, or 5.4 percent, Baosteel announced yesterday.
The increases are within analyst expectations, given the recent industry-wide margin squeeze caused by a fall in spot steel prices since early January and rising coke and spot iron ore prices, said Gao Hua Securities, Goldman Sachs' China partner.
Hu Yanping, steel analyst of research firm UC361.com, said demand from automotive and home appliance makers has been strong for Baosteel's cold-rolled products, thanks to government stimulus measures.
Baosteel had unexpectedly kept February prices unchanged for most products amid speculation the steel mill did that to strengthen China's position in annual negotiations over term iron ore prices with foreign miners. With the March increases, the company is moving to catch up with other major mills which had raised February prices as the market is more certain now that term ore prices will climb.
"Baosteel has to take into account cost issues as the company highly relies on imported ore," Hu said.
On behalf of Chinese steel makers, Baosteel's state parent is negotiating annual term ore prices with Anglo-Australian miners Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton as well as Brazil's Vale.
China's five largest mills have proposed to one of the top three ore suppliers that they pay a provisional 40 percent more for contract ore, according to a Platts newsletter. A hefty 40 percent jump would see Australian ore prices return to close to the pre-financial crisis record in 2008. Baosteel declined comment.
Customs data showed this week that China's iron ore imports fell 25 percent to 46.6 million tons in January from December's near-record high of 62.1 million tons.
By: Fu Chenghao
Shanghai Daily News 18 February 2010
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 )
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