Business
US to take 10% equity stake in Intel | The Express Tribune
WASHINGTON:
President Donald Trump said on Friday the US would take a 10% stake in Intel under a deal with the struggling chipmaker that converts government grants into an equity share — the latest extraordinary intervention by the White House in corporate America.
The deal puts Trump on better terms with Intel Chief Executive Officer Lip-Bu Tan, after the president recently said the CEO should step down due to conflicts of interest. It will ensure that the chipmaker will receive about $10 billion in funds for building or expanding factories in the US.
Under the agreement, the US will purchase a 9.9% stake in Intel for $8.9 billion, or $20.47 per share, which represents a discount of about $4 from Intel’s closing share price of $24.80 on Friday.
The purchase of 433.3 million Intel shares will be made with funding from the $5.7 billion in unpaid grants from the Biden-era CHIPS Act and $3.2 billion awarded to Intel for the Secure Enclave programme, also awarded under Trump’s predecessor, Democratic President Joe Biden. Intel’s stock rose roughly 1% in the extended session on Friday after closing up 5.5% during regular trading.
Trump met with Tan on Friday, a White House official said. That followed Trump’s August 11 meeting with the Intel CEO after the president demanded that Tan resign over his ties to Chinese firms.
“He walked in wanting to keep his job and he ended up giving us $10 billion for the United States. So we picked up $10 billion,” Trump said on Friday. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on X that Tan had struck a deal “that’s fair to Intel and fair to the American People.”
Playing catch up
The Intel investment marks the latest unusual deal with US companies, including a US government agreement allowing AI chip giant Nvidia to sell its H20 chips to China in exchange for receiving 15% of those sales.
Other recent deals include an agreement for the Pentagon to become the largest shareholder in a small mining company, MP Materials, to boost output of rare earth magnets and the US government winning a “golden share” with certain veto rights as part of a deal to allow Japan’s Nippon Steel to buy US Steel.
The federal government’s broad intervention in corporate matters has worried critics, who say Trump’s actions create new categories of corporate risk. Ahead of the US deal with Intel, Japan’s SoftBank agreed to take a $2 billion stake in the chipmaker on Monday.
Intel is getting a $2 billion capital injection from SoftBank Group in a major vote of confidence for the troubled US chipmaker in the middle of a turnaround.
The equity investment, announced by the companies, is a lifeline for the once-iconic US firm, which has struggled to compete after years of management blunders that left it with virtually no foothold in the booming artificial intelligence chip industry.
It will make SoftBank a top-10 shareholder of Intel and add to the Japanese tech investor’s ambitious bet on semiconductor and AI assets that includes the $500 billion Stargate US datacentre project.
SoftBank also held talks with Intel on buying its contract chipmaking business ahead of the investment announcement, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing multiple people with knowledge of the talks.
Some industry observers still question Intel’s ability to surmount its problems. Daniel Morgan, Senior Portfolio Manager at Synovus Trust, said Intel’s problems are beyond a cash infusion from SoftBank or equity interest from the government, singalling out Intel’s contract chip manufacturing business, known as its foundry unit.
“Without government support or another financially stronger partner, it will be difficult for the Intel foundry unit to raise enough capital to continue to build out more Fabs at a reasonable rate,” he said. Intel “needs to catch up with TSMC from a technological perspective to attract business,” he added.
The government on Thursday kept petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD) prices unchanged at Rs253.17 per litre and Rs257.08 per litre respectively, for the coming fortnight, starting from January 16.
This decision was notified in a press release issued by the Petroleum Division.
Earlier, it was expected that the prices of all petroleum products would go down by up to Rs4.50 per litre (over 1pc each) today in view of variation in the international market.
Petrol is primarily used in private transport, small vehicles, rickshaws, and two-wheelers, and directly impacts the budgets of the middle and lower-middle classes.
Meanwhile, most of the transport sector runs on HSD. Its price is considered inflationary, as it is mostly used in heavy transport vehicles, trains, and agricultural engines such as trucks, buses, tractors, tube wells, and threshers, and particularly adds to the prices of vegetables and other eatables.
The government is currently charging about Rs100 per litre on petrol and about Rs97 per litre on diesel.
One of Britain’s most prolific rail fare dodgers could face jail after admitting dozens of travel offences.
Charles Brohiri, 29, pleaded guilty to travelling without buying a ticket a total of 112 times over a two-year period, Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard.
He could be ordered to pay more than £18,000 in unpaid fares and legal costs, the court was told.
He will be sentenced next month.
District Judge Nina Tempia warned Brohiri “could face a custodial sentence because of the number of offences he has committed”.
He pleaded guilty to 76 offences on Thursday.
It came after he was convicted in his absence of 36 charges at a previous hearing.
During Thursday’s hearing, Judge Tempia dismissed a bid by Brohiri’s lawyers to have the 36 convictions overturned.
They had argued the prosecutions were unlawful because they had not been brought by a qualified legal professional.
But Judge Tempia rejected the argument, saying there had been “no abuse of this court’s process”.
JSW Jetour T2 Launch: JSW Motors Limited, the passenger vehicle arm of the JSW Group, is reportedly preparing to enter the Indian car market this year. It has partnered with Jetour, a China-based automotive brand owned by Chery Automobile, and the Jetour T2 SUV could be the company’s first product, according to the reports.
Media reports suggest that the launch will happen independently and not under the JSW MG Motor India joint venture. The SUV will wear a JSW badge and name, instead of the Jetour branding. The upcoming SUV will be assembled at JSW’s upcoming greenfield manufacturing facility in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, Maharashtra.
According to the reports, the company plans to have the vehicle on sale by the third quarter of this year. With this move, JSW aims to establish itself as a standalone carmaker in India.
Expected Powertrain
The SUV is likely to arrive with a 1.5-litre plug-in hybrid setup. Internationally, this hybrid powertrain is offered with both front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive options. It is still unclear which version will be introduced in India.
Design
In terms of design, the T2 is a large and rugged-looking SUV. It has a boxy and upright stance, similar to vehicles like the Land Rover Defender. Despite its tough appearance, it uses a monocoque chassis instead of a ladder-frame construction.
Size
The SUV measures around 4.7 metres in length and nearly 2 metres in width. This makes it larger than the Tata Safari, even though it is a five-seater. A longer 7-seat version is also sold in some markets.
Price
Pricing details for India are yet to be announced. For reference, the front-wheel-drive five-seat T2 i-DM is priced at AED 1,44,000 (around Rs 35 lakh) in the UAE.
Jetour
Jetour is a brand owned by Chinese automaker Chery. Launched in 2018, it focuses mainly on SUVs and is present in markets across China, the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America.
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