The nation’s stock market watchdog Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp (TWSE) yesterday said it would launch a preliminary inquiry into possible insider trading or incorrect information disclosure linked to the merger of the nation’s major panel makers, Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子) and Innolux Display Corp (群創光電).
The two companies unveiled the merger plan on Saturday morning, ending speculation about a tie-up.
The merger, estimated at nearly NT$200 billion (US$6.2 billion) with a 22 percent premium on Chi Mei’s closing price on Friday, will create a new entity called Chimei Innolux Corp (奇美電子), which will be strong enough to challenge the leading position of AUO Optronics Corp (友達光電), the world’s No. 3 liquid-crystal-display (LCD) panel maker.
“We launch inquiries if we find anything unusual such as stock trading or anything abnormal when it comes to big things like mergers,” TWSE spokesman Stanley Chu (朱士廷) said by telephone.
“We will start an inquiry [into the timeline of the merger],” Chu said.
Two days before the merger was announced, Chi Mei trading volume spiked to 142 million shares on Thursday and 184 million shares on Friday, four times and five times higher than its averaged daily turnover of 34.7 million shares in the first eight trading days of the month respectively, information on TWSE’s Web site showed.
Executives at Chi Mei, the nation’s No. 2 maker of LCD panels used in PCs and TVs, and Innolux, the world’s No. 2 maker of LCD PC monitors, were tight-lipped before the announcement and tried to quash speculation of insider trading, reliable sources said.
Innolux, a Miaoli-based subsidiary of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) — the world’s biggest contract electronics manufacturer — announced on Saturday a swap of one share for 2.05 shares of Chi Mei, the deal’s terms showed.
One day prior to the merger announcement, Chi Mei in a statement sent to the Taiwan Stock Exchange denied media reports about its planned merger with Innolux.
“It is purely media speculation. At the moment, the company does not have such a [merger] plan as the report speculated,” Chi Mei said at the time.
Chu said the statement appeared incompatible with what the company was planning.
“We will make inquiries into this part on Monday,” Chu said.
Shares of Innolux and Chi Mei closed at NT$47 and NT$18.8 respectively on Friday.
Shares in Taiwan closed at a new high yesterday, the first trading day of the new year, as contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) continued to break records amid an artificial intelligence (AI) boom, dealers said. The TAIEX closed up 386.21 points, or 1.33 percent, at 29,349.81, with turnover totaling NT$648.844 billion (US$20.65 billion). “Judging from a stronger Taiwan dollar against the US dollar, I think foreign institutional investors returned from the holidays and brought funds into the local market,” Concord Securities Co (康和證券) analyst Kerry Huang (黃志祺) said. “Foreign investors just rebuilt their positions with TSMC as their top target,
H200 CHIPS: A source said that Nvidia has asked the Taiwanese company to begin production of additional chips and work is expected to start in the second quarter Nvidia Corp is scrambling to meet demand for its H200 artificial intelligence (AI) chips from Chinese technology companies and has approached contract manufacturer Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to ramp up production, sources said. Chinese technology companies have placed orders for more than 2 million H200 chips for this year, while Nvidia holds just 700,000 units in stock, two of the people said. The exact additional volume Nvidia intends to order from TSMC remains unclear, they said. A third source said that Nvidia has asked TSMC to begin production of the additional chips and work is expected to start in the second
REVENUE PERFORMANCE: Cloud and network products, and electronic components saw strong increases, while smart consumer electronics and computing products fell Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday posted 26.51 percent quarterly growth in revenue for last quarter to NT$2.6 trillion (US$82.44 billion), the strongest on record for the period and above expectations, but the company forecast a slight revenue dip this quarter due to seasonal factors. On an annual basis, revenue last quarter grew 22.07 percent, the company said. Analysts on average estimated about NT$2.4 trillion increase. Hon Hai, which assembles servers for Nvidia Corp and iPhones for Apple Inc, is expanding its capacity in the US, adding artificial intelligence (AI) server production in Wisconsin and Texas, where it operates established campuses. This
Garment maker Makalot Industrial Co (聚陽) yesterday reported lower-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue of NT$7.93 billion (US$251.44 million), down 9.48 percent from NT$8.76 billion a year earlier. On a quarterly basis, revenue fell 10.83 percent from NT$8.89 billion, company data showed. The figure was also lower than market expectations of NT$8.05 billion, according to data compiled by Yuanta Securities Investment and Consulting Co (元大投顧), which had projected NT$8.22 billion. Makalot’s revenue this quarter would likely increase by a mid-teens percentage as the industry is entering its high season, Yuanta said. Overall, Makalot’s revenue last year totaled NT$34.43 billion, down 3.08 percent from its record NT$35.52
RSS