Industrial automation system supplier DFI Inc (友通資訊) plans to purchase a 20.49 percent stake in mechatronics components maker Ace Pillar Co (羅昇) via a private placement, DFI said in a regulatory filing on Monday.
DFI is to buy 23 million Ace Pillar shares at NT$20 each starting next month, after both companies’ boards of directors approved the transaction on Monday, it said.
The NT$460 million (US$14.8 million) deal is expected to make DFI the largest shareholder of Ace Pillar and help expand the company’s footprint in industrial automation.
“The investment in Ace Pillar is to achieve downstream vertical integration and to expand our market share in the automation industry, while aiding our digital transformation into the information and operational technology fields,” DFI chairman Peter Chen (陳其宏) said in a statement.
The company would also obtain Ace Pillar’s dealerships with 30 key components brands in Taiwan, Japan and Europe through the private placement, DFI president Steven Tsai (蔡其南) said in the statement.
Ace Pillar, which focuses on making machinery for automation production lines, expects the deal with DFI to help it provide total solutions for clients and to boost sales and profits, chairman Lin Chih-chen (林志誠) said.
Ace Pillar is the agent for ball screws, linear guideways and transmission system components for Precision Motion Industries Inc (銀泰科技).
It also distributes linear, servo motors and automatic controlling components for other machinery companies.
DFI's move came after its parent company, Qisda Corp (佳世達), last month acquired a 35 percent stake of software developer Sysage Technology Co Ltd (聚碩) to improve its information technology services. Chen chairs both DFI and Qisda.
DFI shares yesterday rose 0.49 percent to NT$82.30 in Taipei trading, while Ace Pillar shares climbed 9.93 percent to NT$22.15.
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