Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦), the world’s No. 5 PC brand, said yesterday it will acquire Aaeon Technology Inc (研揚科技), a maker of industrial computers, for NT$57.5 per share, or about NT$5.3 billion (US$173 million) in cash.
Asustek said that it expects to complete the acquisition through one of its subsidiaries by Jan. 21.
The acquisition will help it expand industrial PC solutions to enterprises in the medical, transportation, industrial automation and other sectors, according to a company statement.
The news came after the Taipei stock market closed. Asustek shares fell 0.71 percent, while Aaeon shares rose 1.67 percent versus the TAIEX’s 0.58 percent gain.
Aaeon, established in 1992, manufactures and markets a wide range of industrial PC solutions, including embedded computer systems, rugged tablet PCs, mobile PCs, medical PCs and computers on modules, according to its Web site.
Asustek yesterday also posted unaudited standalone revenue of NT$25.3 billion for last month, showing a 6 percent decline from a month earlier.
Meanwhile, Pegatron Corp (和碩), a PC contract manufacturing arm spun off from Asustek this year, saw sales drop 8 percent last month from a month earlier to NT$36 billion amid slower notebook shipments.
Pegatron shipped between 1.2 million and 1.3 million notebooks last month, rounding up to as many as 14.4 million units for the first 11 months, according to a company statement.
Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶), the world’s second-largest notebook contract maker by revenue, yesterday posted consolidated revenue of NT$70.1 billion last month, down 9 percent from October.
The company attributed the drop to postponed shipments requested by some clients.
Total revenue for the first 11 months was NT$791.4 billion, up 40 percent from last year.
Compal shipped 3.8 million laptops last month, down from 4.3 million in October.
It shipped a total of 44.7 million portable PCs for the first 11 months, and may fall behind its earlier target to ship a total of 50 million units for the year.
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