GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓) yesterday said it would become the world’s third-largest silicon wafer supplier, after the company reached an agreement to buy SunEdison Semiconductor Ltd for US$683 million.
It was the second acquisition launched by GlobalWafers this year after the company in May announced it would buy a silicon wafer division of Topsil Semiconductor Materials A/S for 320 million kroner (US$48.73 million).
GlobalWafers has set a target to boost its global position from No. 6 to No. 3, but “this goal will not be reached by organic growth or capacity expansion,” company chairperson Doris Hsu (徐秀蘭) told a media briefing in Taipei.
“We have been scouting potential partners to create a maximum synergy since September last year,” Hsu said. “We found SunEdison is highly supplementary to GlobalWafers in terms of technologies and customers.”
SunEdison has silicon-on-insulator technology and epitaxial wafer capability, in demand in China’s new 12-inch wafer facilities.
Hsu said the merged company could become China’s largest supplier to such wafer makers “in the medium term.”
The combination of the two “will allow GlobalWafers to compete with rivals, such as Shin-Etsu Chemical Co Ltd,” she added.
The deal for St Peters, Missouri-based SunEdison Semiconductor will also give GlobalWafers greater access to South Korea and the EU for silicon wafers used by chipmakers. The Taiwanese company already counts Samsung Electronics Co, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) and Toshiba Corp among its customers, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
After the transaction, GlobalWafers is expected to see its global market share advance from about 6 percent to 17 percent in terms of capacity, the company said.
The combined entity is to supply 750,000 12-inch wafers, 1 million 8-inch wafers and 830,000 6-inch wafers each month, it said.
Annual revenue is expected to swell from NT$15.31 billion (US$487 million) last year to about NT$40 billion, the company said.
Under the terms of the agreement, GlobalWafers has offered to buy all of SunEdison’s shares at US$12 each, representing a 78.6 percent premium to the average closing price of the US semiconductor firm’s common stock for the 30 trading day’s prior to the announcement.
GlobalWafers currently owns about 4.9 percent of the outstanding ordinary shares of SunEdison Semiconductor.
“The price is more than acceptable,” Hsu said.
The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of this year at the earliest after receiving approvals from competition regulators from the US, Austria and Germany, GlobalWafers said.
The deal would also need approval from the Investment Commission and a 75 percent “yes” vote from SunEdison shareholders, it said.
GlobalWafers said it would finance the transaction through existing cash and bank loans, adding that it has no merger-and-acquisition plans in the near term.
The company reported a 11.72 percent annual decline in net profit last quarter at NT$452 million, from NT$512 million in the second quarter last year.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
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