Nuvoton Technology Corp’s (新唐科技) announcement yesterday that it is buying Panasonic Semiconductor Solutions Co Ltd (PSCS) marks the end of Japanese electronics giant Panasonic Corp’s involvement in the semiconductor business.
The Hsinchu-based microcontrollers maker said it would pay US$250 million in an all-cash deal for Kyoto, Japan-based PSCS, which supplies semiconductor devices and solutions with products that focus on sensing, microcontroller and component technologies.
The deal is expected to close by June next year and obtain approvals from both national and regional regulators, it said.
Nuvoton, which is a subsidiary of memorychip maker Winbond Electronics Corp (華邦電子), said the acquisition of PSCS would generate greater value for the customers and shareholders of both companies, while increasing its presence in the global semiconductor industry through greater scale and volume of semiconductor solutions.
“We believe it would broaden the company’s distribution channels and customer base by exploiting PSCS’ abundant resources in research and development, as well as its large pool of talent,” Nuvoton spokeswoman Jessica Huang (黃求己) told a news conference in Taipei.
There are no plans to cut jobs and Nuvoton would integrate PSCS’ more than 2,000 employees, she said.
Nuvoton would also obtain the operating assets of Panasonic Semiconductor Solutions (Suzhou) Co Ltd, such as semiconductor equipment and warehouses; Panasonic Industrial Devices Semiconductor Asia’s assets, liabilities, contracts and other operating assets; and a 49 percent stake in TowerJazz Panasonic Semiconductor Co Ltd, a joint venture between Panasonic and Israel’s Tower Semiconductor Ltd.
PSCS booked an operating loss of ￥23.5 billion (US$214.5 million) for the fiscal year that ended in March, the Nikkei reported.
Nuvoton, with a paid-in capital of NT$2.88 billion (US$94.41million), reported net profit of NT$390.14 million in the first three quarters of this year on revenue of NT$7.58 billion.
Kadoma City, Japan-based Panasonic’s move to sell its semiconductor unit to Nuvoton came after it revealed a three-year-plan to exit the semiconductor business earlier this year.
It has faced rising competition in the semiconductor business from Taiwanese and South Korean rivals, which has been aggravated by a US-China trade spat.
Panasonic sold part of PSCS’ diode and transistor business to Kyoto, Japan-based Rohm Semiconductor Co Ltd in April.
Panasonic president Kazuhiro Tsuga earlier this month said the company would “eradicate” all continuously loss-making businesses by the fiscal year that ends in March 2022, including the production of LCD panels by 2021, while focusing on sectors such as batteries and other auto equipment, the Japan Times reported.
Additional reporting by AFP
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
RSS