Walsin inks partnership with Frontier

Passive component maker Walsin Technology Corp (華新科技) and subsidiary Prosperity Dielectrics Co (PDC, 信昌電子陶瓷) announced yesterday they would form a strategic partnership with Frontier Electronics Co (弘電電子) to tap the inductor product manufacturing business.

The tie-up of three companies comes after Walsin and PDC acquired a combined 17.6 percent stake in Frontier for NT$126 million (US$3.8 million) at the end of last month, Walsin president Peter Chu (朱有義) said during a signing ceremony yesterday.

Walsin and PDC each bought 4.2 million shares of Frontier at about NT$15 per share, Chu said.

Walsin will also get involved in the management of Frontier, he said.

At the ceremony, Walsin announced it had assigned Cheng Lin-tien (程凌天), president of its Chinese unit in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, to be president of Frontier, effective yesterday.

Walsin will also take four of the seven seats on Frontier's board or directors in the near future, Frontier chairman Pang Chen-tai (龐振台) said yesterday, without giving the timeframe for the reshuffle.

Founded in 1972, Frontier designs and manufactures a wide range of electronic components, mainly inductors to custom-made transformers.

The partnership is expected to increase Walsin's competitiveness in the inductor market to compete with major rival Yageo Corp (國巨).