Contract chipmaker Mosel Vitelic Inc (茂矽) yesterday said that Malaysian investment firm Singularity Ventures Sdn Bhd is to become its largest shareholder through a NT$779 million (US$23.18 million) private placement deal.
Singularity Ventures is to acquire 100 million private placement shares issued by Mosel Vitelic priced at NT$7.79 per share, company spokesperson Jou Chung-hsun (周崇勳) said at a news conference at the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
The Malaysian company is to hold 49.226 percent of the 231.4 million Mosel Vitelic shares in circulation.
In September last year, Mosel Vitelic initiated a NT$2.69 million capital reduction plan that removed 269 million shares, each with NT$10 face value, from circulation.
“The deal will bring vital funding for development and working capital, and allow the company to bolster ties with clients and partners in the supply chain,” Jou said.
He said that the global investment operation of the Malaysian firm would help Mosel Vitelic further develop capabilities in producing metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor and insulated-gate bipolar transistor.
The company last year exited the solar cell industry to focus on semiconductor contract manufacturing, aiming to tap into the markets for automotive electronics and electric cars.
Jou last month said that a number of banks have given the company until the end of this year to pay outstanding debts.
He said that the company’s production utilization is expected to reach 70 percent this quarter and 80 percent next quarter, compared with an average of 50 percent last year.
The company hopes to shake off its streak of losses as it continues capital reduction plans and disposes of solar cell production plants, he said.
Mosel Vitelic incurred a net loss of NT$900.86 million in the first three quarters of last year, falling from a net loss of NT$285.64 million incurred over the same period a year earlier, according to its filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Loss per share was NT$2.41 in the first nine months of last year, compared with a loss per share of NT$0.74 over the same time a year earlier.
The company’s combined revenues were NT$1.43 billion last year, plummeting 12.82 percent from NT$1.64 billion a year earlier.
Mosel Vitelic shares closed at NT$2.88 in Taipei trading on Wednesday, up 6.27 percent from a day earlier, outperforming the TAIEX, which lost 0.84 percent.
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