Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd (鴻海精密), the nation’s largest electronic manufacturing service provider, yesterday said it has obtained a 28.3 percent stake in local solar cell maker E-Ton Solar Tech Co Ltd (益通光能) for NT$3.06 billion (US$105 million) by subscribing to E-Ton’s shares via private placement.
The announcement came after the market was rife with -speculation that Hon Hai was in talks with E-Ton, a move which would help Hon Hai tap into the green energy market following a string of moves by other local enterprises, such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電).
The investment through four of its venture capital funds would see Hon Hai become the biggest shareholder of E-Ton.
“We believe Hon Hai’s injection will have a positive impact on E-Ton financially,” E-Ton spokesman Lo Lai-hwang (羅來煌) told the Taipei Times by telephone.
E-Ton posted losses of NT$2.55 billion in the first three months of last year, after losing NT$2.34 billion in 2009.
According to filings to the Taiwan Stock Exchange after the stock market closed, Hon Hai subscribed to 153 million common shares of E-Ton at NT$20 per share, representing a 39 percent discount compared with the solar cell maker’s net value of NT$32.79 per share.
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