Ardentec Corp (欣銓), a semiconductor tester, said it plans to launch a tender offer to acquire as much as 75 percent of local peer Giga Solution Technology Co (全智科技) for NT$2.17 billion (US$67.66 million) in cash.
The transaction would pave the way for Ardentec’s second-phase efforts to fully acquire Giga Solution, the companies said in a joint statement on Friday.
Giga Solution is to become a 100 percent subsidiary of Ardentec and delist its shares from the local stock market following the completion of the deal, the statement said.
The acquisition, the latest in the nation’s merger-and-acquisition spree, aims to boost the company’s market share and to speed up its expansion into the fledgling Internet of Things (IoT) market, Ardentec said in the statement.
Ardentec’s takeover of Giga Solution would be the third merger in the nation’s testing and packaging industry, following Sigurd Microelectronics Corp’s (矽格) consolidation of Test-Serv Inc (誠遠科技) and the world’s largest chip tester and packager Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc’s (日月光半導體) acquisition of Siliconware Precision Industries Co (矽品精密).
“The strategic alliance will create complimentary effects in terms of technology and client, allowing the firms to capture the business opportunities in the IoT era,” Ardentec and Giga Solution said in the statement.
The cooperation “will also help expand their market shares,” the statement said.
Ardentec plans to buy between 35 percent and 75 percent of Giga Solution shares at NT$24 per share, representing a 9.84 percent premium compared with Giga Solution’s closing price of NT$21.85 on Friday, the statement said.
Giga Solution has a total of 120.51 million capital shares.
Giga Solution provides testing services for radio frequency integrated circuits and other communications integrated circuits such as long-term evolution (LTE) chips. The company’s top 10 clients, including the nation’s largest handset chip supplier MediaTek Inc (聯發科), contribute to about 90 percent of its overall revenues, Giga Solution said.
Giga Solution generated NT$1.53 billion in revenue last year. The Hsinchu-based company employees 500 people.
Ardentec, also headquartered in Hsinchu, operates four factories in Taiwan, one in Singapore and one in South Korea. The firm reported revenue of NT$5.92 billion last year, with about 31 percent from testing services for micro controller units. It counts NXP Semiconductors NV as one of its major clients.
Ardentec has 1,600 employees.
Separately, Ardentec’s board on Friday gave the go-ahead to a plan to subscribe to shares issued by Raytek Semiconductor Inc (瑞峰半導體) for NT$350 million, according to a company filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Raytek, established in April, provides wafer-level testing services.
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