Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (ASE, 日月光半導體), yesterday said it is in talks with Siliconware Precision Industries Co (SPIL, 矽品精密) to create a joint-venture holding company in a last-ditch attempt to push for a merger of the two firms.
ASE’s proposal, if accepted, would put an end to a nine-month ownership fight, as SPIL has resisted a “hostile” takeover bid by the world’s biggest chip tester and packager.
“The company has talked to SPIL about the feasibility of forming a joint holding company. We have also exchanged views [about the proposal],” ASE said in a statement.
The company plans to make a formal announcement after the two sides reach an agreement and receive approvals from their respective boards, ASE said in the statement.
ASE’s comments came after the Chinese-language Liberty Times yesterday reported that the two firms were scheduled to announce later this week an agreement on forming an industrial holding company after a meeting between ASE chairman Jason Chang (張虔生) and SPIL chairman Bough Lin (林文伯) last month.
The proposed holding company is planning to list its shares in the US, possibly the NASDAQ, which has a higher price-earnings ratio of about 25 times, compared with 14 times for Taiwan stock exchange, the report said, citing unidentified sources.
In a separate statement, SPIL confirmed plans about forming a joint holding company.
“The negotiations are still under way and the company does not guarantee that the talks would lead to an agreement,” SPIL said in the statement.
In March, ASE proposed a new industrial holding company that would hold 100 percent equity interests in ASE and SPIL, with the two companies retaining their legal entities.
The proposal was made after ASE failed to win approval from the Fair Trade Investment Commission for its second tender offer to increase its stake in SPIL to 49 percent.
The latest proposal demonstrates ASE’s determination to fully acquire SPIL to expand the company’s economies of scale in order to fend off growing competition from Chinese rivals.
ASE has increased its holding of SPIL from about 25 percent, which it obtained via the first tender offer launched in October last year, to 33.28 percent in March.
Market reaction to the latest news was positive, with ASE shares rallying 3.84 percent to NT$32.45 and SPIL shares climbing 2.46 percent to NT$50, outperforming the TAIEX, which edged down 0.52 percent, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure