Semiconductor components distributor WT Microelectronics Co (文曄) yesterday said that it is continuing to fight off a takeover by bigger rival WPG Holdings Co (大聯大投資控股).
“WT Microelectronics will never relinquish control of the company’s operations, but will safeguard the interests of shareholders and employees. We will fight to the last minute, whatever it takes,” WT Microelectronics chairman Eric Cheng (鄭文宗) told a media briefing in Taipei yesterday.
To ward off a hostile acquisition by WPG, WT Microelectronics has submitted a report to the Fair Trade Commission, saying that combining the two semiconductor distributors would generate an anti-trust concern, Chinese-language Unique Satellite TV reported yesterday.
WPG has not submitted an application for the competition watchdog’s approval.
On Nov. 12, WPG announced its plan to acquire up to 30 percent of WT Microelectronics shares for about NT$8.11 billion (US$265.8 million), saying that the purchase would only be a financial investment.
Under the plan, each share would be valued at NT$45.80, which WT Microelectronics said was too low.
A combination of WT Microelectronics and WPG would have a 67 percent market share in Taiwan, prompting some customers to worry about pricing, Cheng said.
“Some customers are planning to withdraw orders to avoid an overconcentration of purchases with a single supplier; therefore, a merger would harm WT Microelectronics’ business and profits, which would hurt shareholders’ interests and eventually cause job losses,” Cheng said.
Cheng did not go into detail about the company’s countermeasures to WPG’s takeover bid.
The management team has less than a 10 percent stake in the company, so WT Microelectronics is vulnerable to a hostile acquisition, Cheng said.
For now, the company does not have any plan to buy back shares and increase management’s holdings, or to shore up WT Microelectronics’ market value, he said.
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