LED chip supplier Formosa Epitaxy Inc (ForEpi, 璨圓光電) yesterday won the government’s approval to sell a 19.9 percent stake to Chinese LED epitaxy maker Sanan Optoelectronics Co (三安光電) after more than seven months under the regulatory review.
However, the conditional permission by the Ministry of Economic Affairs restricts the Taiwanese firm from “transferring patents, talents, management rights or technologies” to its Chinese partner, according to a statement released by the ministry.
As it is the first investment case in which Chinese firms are allowed to invest in Taiwan’s listed companies, the ministry said it had conducted rigorous evaluations for ForEpi’s application.
“The Investment Commission has specified certain sectors in manufacturing that Chinese firms can invest in, but the investors will have to prove their investment plans are not aimed at taking over Taiwanese firms, before they are to be given approval from the ministry,” the statement said.
With Chinese funds, Taiwanese firms will be able to expand their businesses, strengthen collaboration with Chinese business partners, enhance competitiveness in the global market and help create job opportunities in the country, the ministry said.
In February, ForEpi applied for government approval for its plan to sell 120 million new shares at NT$19.6 each to Sanan via a private placement to raise NT$2.35 billion (US$78.56 million), which will give Sanan a 19.9 percent stake in ForEpi.
“Taiwan’s LED industry has a complete supply chain, skilled technologies backed by patents, and rich talent resources, but faces difficulties when trying to improve profitability because of the lack of capital,” the ministry said.
“The ForEpi-Sanan investment case will help ForEpi increase its capital, expand the scale of the business, create job opportunities, and also strengthen its position in the global market,” it added.
ForEpi spokesperson Grath Fu (傅珍珍) said the ministry will send a letter to Sanan to inform the company of the government’s official approval for its investment plan.
As required by law, Sanan will have to purchase ForEpi’s shares within 15 days, in accordance with its agreement with ForEpi, Fu said by telephone yesterday.
Meanwhile, Southern Taiwan Science Park (STSP) yesterday confirmed that Ubilux Optoelectronics Corp (晶發光電), an LED arm of Powerchip Technology Corp (力晶), had closed its business and laid off staff.
According to reports by Chinese-language United Daily, Ubilux laid off a total of 177 employees this month after struggling to survive in the competitive LED market.
Ubilux’s retreat from the LED market follows LED chip manufacturer Chi Mei Lighting Technology Corp’s (奇力光電) shut-down earlier this month.
purpose: Tesla’s CEO sought to meet senior Chinese officials to discuss the rollout of its ‘full self-driving’ software in China and approval to transfer data they had collected Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing yesterday on an unannounced visit, where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of "full self-driving" (FSD) software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Chinese state media reported that he met Premier Li Qiang (李強) in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla's development in China could be regarded as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation. Musk confirmed his meeting with the premier yesterday with a post on social media platform X. "Honored to meet with Premier Li
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV on Friday announced an investment of NT$13.5 billion (US$414.62 million) over the next five years in Taiwan. The first multinational brewing company to operate in Taiwan, Heineken made the statement at a ceremony held at its brewery in Pingtung County. It also outlined its efforts to make the brewery “net zero” by 2030. Heineken has been in the Taiwanese market for 20 years, Heineken Taiwan managing director Jeff Wu (吳建甫) said. With strong support from local consumers, the Dutch brewery decided to transition from sales to manufacturing in the country, Wu said. Heineken assumed majority ownership and management rights
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI