MediaTek Inc (聯發科), the nation’s biggest handset chip designer, yesterday said it had won approval from South Korean regulators to merge with smaller rival MStar Semiconductor Inc (晨星半導體).
However, the merger between the two has been postponed again as they await approval from Chinese antitrust authorities, the two companies said in separate filings to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Both companies were notified yesterday by South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission (FTC) that they had secured regulatory approval for the merger.
“Considering that the deal still faces regulatory review in China, the companies propose to tentatively change the effective date for the merger to Aug. 1 from May 1,” they said in their filings.
In December last year, the companies announced pushing back the effective date for the merger from the original Jan. 1 to May 1, due to antitrust concerns in South Korea and China.
MediaTek in June last year announced that it planned to acquire LCD TV chip designer MStar in a deal estimated to be worth NT$115 billion (US$3.86 billion), as the Hsinchu-based company seeks to broaden its product portfolio to compete with rivals such as US-based Qualcomm Inc and China’s Spreadtrum Communications (展訊通信).
Taiwan’s FTC gave the green light to the deal in August last year.
MStar shares closed up 0.43 percent at NT$232, while those of MediaTek fell 0.88 percent to NT$338.5, both outpacing the benchmark TAIEX, which dropped 1.47 percent.
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