Epistar acquisition will form nation's largest LED maker

Epistar Corp (晶元光電), which makes chips that run light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in mobile phones, has decided to acquire United Epitaxy Co (國聯光電) through a share swap to create the nation's largest LED maker, the company announced in a filing made to the Taiwan Stock Exchange late Monday.

Shares of Epistar, currently leading the nation's high-luminance blue LED segment with its patented ITO (indium-tin oxide) technology, rose 0.5 percent to NT$38.7 on the stock exchange yesterday.

Shares of United Epitaxy opened 5 percent higher but the gap was filled by session-end. Its prices were unchanged at NT$17.

In the statement, Epistar said each of its shares will be swapped for 2.24 of United Epitaxy. The deal is expected to take effect on Dec. 30 this year, after the two companies each hold a special shareholders' meeting on Oct. 4 to approve the plan, the company said.

Following the merger, the combined capital from the companies is estimated to reach NT$3.06 billion. The companies said the merged entity will outpace its rivals in the local LED industry in terms of operation and production scale.

The merger is "to integrate resources, expand economic scale, in a bid to upgrade efficiency and competitiveness," Epistar said in the statement.

This deal is the latest consolidation among local LED chipmakers during the past few months. In February, South Epitaxy Corp (元砷光電) which supplies LED epi-wafers and chips announced to acquire smaller rival Epitech Technology Corp (聯詮光電) through a share-swap transaction.