Semiconductor component distributor WPG Holdings Co (大聯大投資控股) yesterday purchased a 16.98 percent stake in rival WT Microelectronics Co Ltd (文曄科技) for about NT$4.59 billion (US$153.26 million), completing a tender offer announced in November last year.
WPG’s board of directors last year approved the proposed acquisition of 177.11 million WT shares by a Jan. 30 deadline for NT$45.8 per share, but the company ultimately stopped short with an acquisition of 100.24 million shares.
Its stake in WT would have risen to 30 percent if the tender offer was fully executed, it said in a Taiwan Stock Exchange filing.
WPG has avoided Fair Trade Commission (FTC) scrutiny, because it does not own a controlling stake in WT, or a one-third share of the company.
“As WPG had planned to purchase a maximum of 177,111,000 shares, or less than 30 percent of WT’s outstanding shares, the deal does not constitute a merger,” the FTC said. “Therefore WPG is not required to apply with the FTC for combination.”
More than a month ago WT urged its shareholders to reject the NT$8.11 billion hostile takeover bid from WPG, saying that the offer of NT$45.8 per share was below the reasonable price range of between NT$50.48 and NT$53.68.
WT also accused WPG of seeking to monopolize the local chip distribution market, in which WPG holds a 70 percent share, along with a 50 percent share in the Asian market, excluding Japan’s 10 top chip distributors.
WPG intends to remain a passive investor, it said in a statement, adding that it would not seek to take control of WT’s board of directors.
WPG said it would shoulder its responsibilities and rights as an independent shareholder and would not collude with a third party.
It would also refrain from additional purchases of WT’s shares, as it aims to maintain a 30 percent stake, it said.
Data from US market researcher Gartner Inc, the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics and the Industrial Technology Research Institute showed that WPG and WT hold a combined market share of less than 1 percent in the global and Asia-Pacific semiconductor markets, the FTC said.
The companies hold a maximum of less than 40 percent in the global chip distribution market, the commission added.
WPG’s shares yesterday closed down 0.52 percent at NT$38.6 in Taipei trading, while WT’s shares declined 0.12 percent to close at NT$41.9.
SEEKING CLARITY: Washington should not adopt measures that create uncertainties for ‘existing semiconductor investments,’ TSMC said referring to its US$165 billion in the US Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) told the US that any future tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors could reduce demand for chips and derail its pledge to increase its investment in Arizona. “New import restrictions could jeopardize current US leadership in the competitive technology industry and create uncertainties for many committed semiconductor capital projects in the US, including TSMC Arizona’s significant investment plan in Phoenix,” the chipmaker wrote in a letter to the US Department of Commerce. TSMC issued the warning in response to a solicitation for comments by the department on a possible tariff on semiconductor imports by US President Donald Trump’s
The government has launched a three-pronged strategy to attract local and international talent, aiming to position Taiwan as a new global hub following Nvidia Corp’s announcement that it has chosen Taipei as the site of its Taiwan headquarters. Nvidia cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Monday last week announced during his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei that the Nvidia Constellation, the company’s planned Taiwan headquarters, would be located in the Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei. Huang’s decision to establish a base in Taiwan is “primarily due to Taiwan’s talent pool and its strength in the semiconductor
Industrial production expanded 22.31 percent annually last month to 107.51, as increases in demand for high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) applications drove demand for locally-made chips and components. The manufacturing production index climbed 23.68 percent year-on-year to 108.37, marking the 14th consecutive month of increase, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said. In the first four months of this year, industrial and manufacturing production indices expanded 14.31 percent and 15.22 percent year-on-year, ministry data showed. The growth momentum is to extend into this month, with the manufacturing production index expected to rise between 11 percent and 15.1 percent annually, Department of Statistics
An earnings report from semiconductor giant and artificial intelligence (AI) bellwether Nvidia Corp takes center stage for Wall Street this week, as stocks hit a speed bump of worries over US federal deficits driving up Treasury yields. US equities pulled back last week after a torrid rally, as investors turned their attention to tax and spending legislation poised to swell the US government’s US$36 trillion in debt. Long-dated US Treasury yields rose amid the fiscal worries, with the 30-year yield topping 5 percent and hitting its highest level since late 2023. Stocks were dealt another blow on Friday when US President Donald