GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓) on Wednesday agreed to acquire German silicon wafer manufacturer Siltronic AG for about 3.75 billion euros (US$4.53 billion), yet another deal in a record year for the global semiconductor industry.
GlobalWafers is to pay 125 euros a share, a 10 percent premium to Siltronic’s closing price on Nov. 27, the day before public disclosure of acquisition talks, the companies said in a statement.
The two companies on Monday last week said they were in discussions.
Photo: Hung Yu-fang, Taipei Times
GlobalWafers has promised not to lay off employees or close any Siltronic site in Germany before the end of 2024, chairwoman and chief executive officer Doris Hsu (徐秀蘭) said yesterday.
The two companies have 20 factories in 10 countries, she added.
“Siltronic can help bolster GlobalWafers’ capability in 5G, power and Internet of Things,” Hsu said in an interview, adding that the deal would help GlobalWafers accelerate the development of more advanced, compound-based semiconductor technology.
The companies said they expect the deal to be completed in the second half of next year.
Hsu said that GlobalWafers is confident the deal would pass regulatory reviews.
The combined company would be the world’s largest silicon wafer maker by revenue, with a market share of 32 to 35 percent, Fubon Securities Investment Services Co (富邦投顧) analyst Richard Hsia (夏武正) said.
The proposed deal would be GlobalWafers’ largest ever, and one of the biggest in the chip industry this year, as companies look beyond the COVID-19 pandemic to a return to normal business.
The offer would also add to a growing number of semiconductor deals this year, which is set to break the high-water mark for chip acquisitions reached in 2016, when US$122 billion in transactions were struck.
The largest deal of 2016 was Softbank Group Corp’s US$32 billion purchase of Arm Ltd.
Headquartered in Munich, Siltronic is a leading manufacturer of silicon wafers used in products such as smartphones, computers, navigation and digital displays.
The firm, which has production sites and offices in Germany, the US and other advanced manufacturing countries, had global revenues of about 1.3 billion euros last year.
GlobalWafers, majority-owned by Sino-American Silicon Products Inc (中美晶), reported revenue of about NT$58 billion (US$2 billion) and operating income of NT$18 billion last year.
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