Epistar Corp (晶元光電), Taiwan’s largest maker of light-emitting diodes (LED), said it is in talks with Chinese firms and municipalities about ventures to sell its products to the Chinese government.
“We have some investment projects we’re discussing in mainland China,” Rider Chang (張世賢), a spokesman for Hsinchu-based Epistar, said yesterday. “The Chinese want to convert traditional street lamps into LED streetlamps.”
Epistar plans to expand into the growing market for more energy-efficient products as China seeks to cut electricity costs. LEDs, semiconductors coated with special chemicals, consume around 50 percent less power than fluorescent lights.
The firm is in talks with municipal governments in Beijing and Chongqing as well as local lighting manufacturers to supply LEDs used in streetlights, Chang said.
“Epistar has a good chance of signing investment deals with the Chinese because their technology is very strong,” said Yvonne Lu in rating the company “outperform” at KGI Securities Co (中信證券) in Taipei. “The Chinese LED industry is not as strong as Taiwan’s.”
Epistar is also interested in attracting Chinese investment in the company, though it hasn’t conducted talks or been approached by Chinese firms, Chang said.
Current clients are likely strategic investment partners, he said, declining to identify the interested parties, citing nondisclosure agreements.
Epistar’s shares rose 6.9 percent to close at NT$74.50 today in Taipei. The stock has risen 152 percent this year, compared with a 39 percent advance in the benchmark TAIEX index.
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