The Star Online: Business
The Star Online: Business |
- Entrepreneur launches first Africa-designed smartphone
- Taiwan's Chinatrust in talks to buy Tokyo bank: report
- U.S. judge approves Toyota's $1.1b acceleration deal
| Entrepreneur launches first Africa-designed smartphone Posted: 29 Dec 2012 06:41 PM PST BRAZZAVILLE: A Congolese inventor has unveiled what he says is the first African-designed smartphone. Verone Mankou, 27, told AFP that the so-called Elikia, which means "hope" in the local language, went on sale the day before in the Republic of Congo. Mankou, head of the company VMK, said the Android-powered device was on sale in only in Congo for now, but he planned to launch it in other countries. The phone was initially due to go on sale in October but its launch was delayed "because of an explosion in demand," he said. Though the phone is Congolese by design, it is manufactured in China. It costs about 130 euros ($170) - a considerable sum in this central African nation. The phone has a 3.5-inch touchscreen, 512 megabytes of RAM and a 650-Mhz processor. Its camera is five megapixels, and it also comes with GPS and Bluetooth. Mankou last year designed what was billed as Africa's first tablet computer.-AFP |
| Taiwan's Chinatrust in talks to buy Tokyo bank: report Posted: 29 Dec 2012 06:30 PM PST TOKYO: Taiwan's Chinatrust Commercial Bank is in talks to take over a regional Japanese bank in what would be the first such foreign acquisition, a report said Sunday. The major Taiwanese bank has already told the shareholders of Tokyo Star Bank that it wants to buy a nearly 100-percent stake for about 50 billion yen ($580 million), the business daily Nikkei reported. Although foreign funds have taken over Japanese banks before, no overseas bank has ever done so, it said. Tokyo Star's shareholders - including US investment fund Lone Star Funds, Japan's Shinsei Bank and France's Credit Agricole - are due to examine the terms of the proposed takeover early next year, the Nikkei said. Chinatrust will make a final decision on the takeover price after examining the Tokyo bank's assets. It has branches in Tokyo and other Asian cities and is looking to increase its international earnings through the takeover, the Nikkei said. Tokyo Star was bought by Lone Star in 2001 after its predecessor, Tokyo Sowa Bank, went under in 1999. In 2008 its shares were sold to a Japanese private equity fund. However, the fund struggled to make payments amid difficult business conditions. Lone Star, Shinsei Bank and other creditors have become de facto shareholders after acquiring collateral shares. Tokyo Star, which mainly focuses on individual customers through such services as housing loans, had a deposit balance of 2.06 trillion yen and an outstanding loan balance of 1.52 trillion yen as of the end of September, the Nikkei said.-AFP |
| U.S. judge approves Toyota's $1.1b acceleration deal Posted: 29 Dec 2012 12:57 AM PST SAN FRANCISCO: A U.S. judge granted preliminary approval on Friday to Toyota Motor Corp's $1.1 billion settlement of a class-action lawsuit brought by consumers who lost value on their cars due to sudden, unintended acceleration. U.S. District Judge James Selna in Santa Ana, California, scheduled a hearing in June for final approval of the deal, which was announced this week. It provides $500 million in cash for plaintiffs, plus installation of break override systems and a customer support program valued at about $600 million combined. "Settlement will likely serve the interests of the class members better than litigation," Selna wrote. Plaintiff lawyer Steve Berman said he was pleased with the favorable comments in Selna's order. Toyota spokeswoman Julie Hamp said the company was gratified by Selna's approval of the settlement, "which will provide value to our customers and provides an extra measure of confidence in their vehicles." About 16 million Toyota, Lexus and Scion vehicles sold in the United States spanning the model years 1998 to 2010 are covered by the settlement. Company officials have maintained that the electronic throttle control system was not at fault, instead blaming ill-fitting floor mats and sticky gas pedals. A study by federal safety officials at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and NASA found no link between reports of unintended acceleration and Toyota's electronic throttle control system. Toyota, the No. 3 automaker in the U.S. market, admitted no fault in proposing the settlement, one of the largest U.S. mass class-action litigations in the automotive sector. One plaintiff's law firm called it the largest settlement in U.S. history involving auto defects. However, the deal does not cover wrongful death or injury lawsuits, believed to total more than 300 according to a Toyota filing in June. Toyota's recall of its vehicles between 2009 and 2011 relating to the unintended acceleration issue hurt its reputation for reliability and safety. But the automaker's sales were up almost 29 percent in 2012 through November, compared with a 14 percent increase in the industry, and Toyota's share of the U.S. market has risen to 14.4 percent from 12.7 percent in 2011. In his order on Friday, Selna said the settlement is fair, given the risks of further litigation and the complicated legal rulings he has issued throughout the case. "Some of these rulings have been favorable to plaintiffs, some have been favorable to Toyota," Selna wrote. "Were the parties to proceed to a fully litigated result, virtually any outcome would face the risk of uncertainty upon appellate review of these rulings." Selna also approved up to $200 million in attorneys' fees, saying the amount falls within 25 percent of the total settlement which is the benchmark established by appellate law. The case is In re: Toyota Motor Corp. Unintended Acceleration Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation, U.S. District Court, Central District of California, No. 10-ml-02151. - Reuters |
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