Category: 3. Business

Jul. 11, 2025

TDK’s leadership team recently sat down with EEFocus, one of China’s largest electronic engineering media platforms, to discuss the company’s innovation strategy and its expanding role in the Chinese market. The interview, which reached EEFocus’s audience of 3 million active electronic engineers, featured Ludger Trockel, Corporate Officer and CSO of the Electronic Components Business Company (ECBC); Dr. Yasushi Enokido, General Manager of the Advanced Products Development Center, Technology & Intellectual Property HQ; and Grace Wang, President & CEO of the Greater China Sales Business Group.

During the interview, TDK executives highlighted the company’s ongoing investment in advanced, forward-looking technology development. “We are striving for a lot of innovation,” said Mr. Trockel. In order to be competitive, besides a global manufacturing footprint, a global innovation platform where to look at, where to focus on, TDK is also teaming up with McLaren for Formula E car and investing in innovation programs inside the company.

The discussion also focused on TDK’s integrated approach to leveraging international expertise and efforts to make contribution to societal sustainability. Dr. Enokido noted, through collaboration with different departments such as CMI and TDK ventures, at the company-wide level, we analyze and determine which direction offers the most potential for us to grow and make an impact. Our business activities themselves are helping transform our society toward more sustainable development, not only in leveraging sustainable materials but also enabling the manufacturing of more energy efficient devices.

Grace Wang provided an executive perspective on the Chinese market, reaffirming TDK’s long-term commitment to the region. We are investing in resources especially in technical setup and using TDK united approach to better serve customers and to engage in more direct R&D discussions and help define products right here, she explained.

The interview reinforced TDK’s position as a technology leader and trusted partner in China’s dynamic electronics sector. The coverage is expected to further enhance TDK’s brand visibility and reputation among China’s engineering community.

　

　

　

KARACHI  –  The Pakistani IT industry, through the export of software consultancy services, fetched over $1 billion during the period of July to May in the financial year (2024-25), which is the highest in its history. Last year, exports of software consultancy services grew to $793 million during the period of July to May of the financial year 2023-24, which are less than $218 million on year-on-year basis, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

Convenor FPCCI’s Committee on IT and Chairman Viper Group Khushnood Aftab said that investment in human capital and IT infrastructure is indispensable to provide innovative services to foreign clients. He added that Pakistani companies should focus on joint ventures with foreign and local companies to provide service to high-end clients in different markets. During the period of July- May of the last financial year, Pakistan exports of IT and IT-enabled services surged to $3.47 billion as compared to $2.92 billion reported in the corresponding period of the last year. The country also generated foreign exchange of $298 million from call centers and $498 million from the telecommunication sector, in addition to other revenue streams such as hardware and other services.

Mehwish Salman Ali, Member PASHA’s Committee on AI, said that IT companies should work on emerging technologies, including cybersecurity, AI technologies, machine learning, gaming to earn high-ticket orders and enhance IT exports of the country. She believes that non-traditional markets, particularly GCC countries, should be explored on a priority in addition to strong market of USA and Europe to grow exports of software consultancy at an accelerated pace. The government has set an ambitious target of $10 billion in IT exports by fiscal year 2029 under the ‘Uraan Pakistan’ – the national economic plan, implying a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 28% until then.

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Fed rate cut expected in September

Linklaters advised the joint lead managers on the approximately HK$2.95bn (approximately US$378m) placing of shares and the concurrent issuance of approximately HK$2.95bn (approximately US$378m) of convertible bonds by S.F. Holding Co., Ltd. (SF Holding). 

Listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, SF Holding is the largest comprehensive logistics service provider in China and Asia. The proceeds from the transaction will be used to strengthen the company’s international and cross-border logistics capabilities, and to support research and development of advanced technologies and digital solutions, among others. 

The Linklaters team was led by capital markets partner Taiki Ki and corporate partner Donnelly Chan, with support from solicitors Austin Ho and Jun Tang.

This transaction reinforces Linklaters’ strong track record advising on significant equity-linked transactions in the Asia Pacific region. The team recently acted on a number of the market’s most high-profile deals, including Ping An Insurance’s HK$11.765bn convertible bonds, Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group’s HK$8.8bn convertible bond issuance, as well as share placings for Innovent Biologics and Keymed Biosciences.

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A small Italian pension fund is set to play a crucial role in Monte dei Paschi di Siena’s hostile bid for rival Mediobanca after it ploughed almost 70 per cent of its total European equities allocation into the Milanese bank.

Enasarco, the private pension fund for trade agents with €9.8bn in assets, built a 2.52 per cent stake in Mediobanca this year, documents reviewed by the Financial Times show.

The move, which has prompted accusations of government interference in the takeover bid from opposition lawmakers, looks an outsized bet by the fund, according to people with knowledge of its investment mandate.

One person familiar with the fund’s workings raised concerns about such a position relative to its internal risk limits, while another added that it looked unusual. Enasarco did not respond to requests for comment.

The Italian treasury regulates pension funds and the Meloni government is supportive of the bid by MPS for its larger rival — both of which count the billionaire Del Vecchio family and construction tycoon Francesco Caltagirone among their largest shareholders.

Enasarco is limited to investing just 6 per cent of its assets in European equities, equivalent to approximately €600mn. Its Mediobanca position is worth close to €400mn based on the bank’s current share price — or 67 per cent of the fund’s total permitted allocation.

Enpam, another pension fund that at €26bn has almost three times Enasarco’s assets, owns a nearly 2 per cent stake in Mediobanca worth around €300mn.

The stakes could be critical to MPS securing approval for its €13bn deal — which is pitched at a 4 per cent discount to Mediobanca’s share price.

MPS, which was bailed out by the Italian government in 2017, said last week that it would waive a condition requiring 66.7 per cent of investors to agree to sell their shares for the deal to proceed.

Instead, the Tuscan lender said 35 per cent would be enough to gain “de facto control” of Mediobanca.

MPS is almost certain to secure approval for the deal from Mediobanca’s two largest investors — the Del Vecchios and Caltagirone, who together own a combined 28 per cent stake in Mediobanca.

Their approval would mean just another 7 per cent of shareholders would have to sign off on the deal. Cassa Forense, the Italian lawyers’ pension fund, has been an investor in Mediobanca since 2008 and also has a 1 per cent holding.

Delfin, the holding company of the late Leonardo Del Vecchio, and Caltagirone are both closely associated with the government’s ambition to build a third pillar of the Italian banking system to challenge UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo. The two investors are the second and third largest shareholders in MPS and Italian insurer Generali.

Meanwhile, Generali’s single largest shareholder is Mediobanca, meaning that de facto control of the bank would also give some sway over the insurer.

Mario Turco, a senator for Italy’s Five Star Movement, has criticised what he sees as “the involvement of the Meloni government and [finance minister Giancarlo] Giorgetti” in the deal, saying they have wasted taxpayer money “by throwing MPS and the pension funds into the mix just to back the ambitions of individual investors like Delfin and Caltagirone”.

A Treasury spokesperson said the issues raised by the lawmaker were “unfounded”.

“The Treasury’s powers are limited to ex post auditing of the pension funds’ financial statements [and] do not include, not even theoretically, the ability to directly influence their operational decisions,” they added.

A spokesperson for Enpam said “the pension fund makes its investment decisions based on the market and in the interest of its members”. The fund’s president, Alberto Oliveti, publicly rejected Turco’s allegations, saying Enpam has long invested in Italian banks.

Additional reporting by Giuliana Ricozzi in Rome