Innolux Display Corp (群創光電), the world’s second-biggest maker of liquid-crystal-display (LCD) PC monitors, said yesterday it intended to acquire money-losing display maker TPO Displays Corp (統寶光電) in a NT$21 billion (US$651 million) share-swap deal to expand into the high-end smartphone panel business.
The deal could help lift Innolux’s ranking to No. 3 in the global mobile phone panel market next year after doubling its annual handset shipments to as much as 300 million units by combining its shipments with TPO, Innolux president Tuan Hsing-chien (段行建) told a press conference.
The consolidation would combine the strengths of both companies, allowing the firm to broaden its product and customer portfolios and create an economy of scale, the Miaoli-based company said in a statement.
SWAP
Each Innolux share will be swapped for eight TPO shares, the companies said, after the acquisition proposal obtained board approval yesterday. The transaction is scheduled to close on May 1.
“Growing customer demand for high-end LTPS [Low Temperature Polycrystalline Silicon] panels used in smartphones should be the main reason behind Innolux’s move to acquire TPO. The smartphone sector is one of the fastest-growing areas this year,” said Annabella Hsu (許美雯), a flat-panel analyst with International Data Corp.
TPO is the only panel maker in Taiwan that makes handset screens using LTPS technology. It only operates one 3.5-generation plant, which has experienced chronic losses.
“The offering looks quite reasonable, but we do not see the potential benefits of a merger as the handset business is not a major growth driver for Innolux,” said Dale Gai (蓋欣山), who tracks the flat-panel industry for Yuanta Securities.
“We are hoping to see more progress in its TV business. It is, instead, Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶) that risks being the biggest beneficiary after it rids itself of its unprofitable display unit,” Gai said.
TPO is a display affiliate of Compal, the world’s second-largest notebook computer maker on contract basis. Compal said it would hold a about 5 percent stake in Innolux after the deal wraps up.
LOSSES
TPO’s losses rose to NT$1.98 billion for the first half of this year, from losses of NT$1.24 billion a year ago, the company said in filings to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Innolux shares inched up 0.86 percent to NT$41, while TPO shares dropped 10.2 percent to NT$5.9 on the emerging market yesterday. Compal shares rose 2.49 percent to NT$39.10.
SEMICONDUCTORS: The German laser and plasma generator company will expand its local services as its specialized offerings support Taiwan’s semiconductor industries Trumpf SE + Co KG, a global leader in supplying laser technology and plasma generators used in chip production, is expanding its investments in Taiwan in an effort to deeply integrate into the global semiconductor supply chain in the pursuit of growth. The company, headquartered in Ditzingen, Germany, has invested significantly in a newly inaugurated regional technical center for plasma generators in Taoyuan, its latest expansion in Taiwan after being engaged in various industries for more than 25 years. The center, the first of its kind Trumpf built outside Germany, aims to serve customers from Taiwan, Japan, Southeast Asia and South Korea,
Gasoline and diesel prices at domestic fuel stations are to fall NT$0.2 per liter this week, down for a second consecutive week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) announced yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to drop to NT$26.4, NT$27.9 and NT$29.9 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, the companies said in separate statements. The price of premium diesel is to fall to NT$24.8 per liter at CPC stations and NT$24.6 at Formosa pumps, they said. The price adjustments came even as international crude oil prices rose last week, as traders
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which supplies advanced chips to Nvidia Corp and Apple Inc, yesterday reported NT$1.046 trillion (US$33.1 billion) in revenue for last quarter, driven by constantly strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips, falling in the upper end of its forecast. Based on TSMC’s financial guidance, revenue would expand about 22 percent sequentially to the range from US$32.2 billion to US$33.4 billion during the final quarter of 2024, it told investors in October last year. Last year in total, revenue jumped 31.61 percent to NT$3.81 trillion, compared with NT$2.89 trillion generated in the year before, according to
PRECEDENTED TIMES: In news that surely does not shock, AI and tech exports drove a banner for exports last year as Taiwan’s economic growth experienced a flood tide Taiwan’s exports delivered a blockbuster finish to last year with last month’s shipments rising at the second-highest pace on record as demand for artificial intelligence (AI) hardware and advanced computing remained strong, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. Exports surged 43.4 percent from a year earlier to US$62.48 billion last month, extending growth to 26 consecutive months. Imports climbed 14.9 percent to US$43.04 billion, the second-highest monthly level historically, resulting in a trade surplus of US$19.43 billion — more than double that of the year before. Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) described the performance as “surprisingly outstanding,” forecasting export growth
RSS