Although the number of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) last year fell, the overall value surged 47 percent from a year earlier, propelled by US-China trade tensions, technological innovations and a realignment of the electronics supply chain, an annual report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Taiwan said yesterday.
“The M&A market took a hit from the COVID-19 pandemic last year, but may regain dynamism this year, helped by sustained monetary easing by global central banks and expectations of an economic recovery from the pandemic,” Lu Ming-kuang (盧明光), chairman of the Taiwan Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity Council (台灣併購與私募協會), said in the report.
Taiwanese firms, especially in the tech sector, have invested in business models with growth potential and sought to increase their market share by acquiring peers at home and abroad, the report said.
This drive to prosper explains why silicon wafer supplier GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓) bought Germany’s Siltronic AG, Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控) acquired Jih Sun Financial Holding Co (日盛金控) and iPhone assembler Pegatron Corp (和碩) fully absorbed metal casing subsidiary Casetek Holdings Ltd (鎧勝控股), it said.
Catcher Technology Co Ltd (可成科技), the nation’s leading supplier of light metal casings and enclosures for mobile devices, sold two smartphone metal chassis plants to China’s Lens Technology Co Ltd (藍思科技), as it quit a sector with cutthroat competition with thin returns and searched for a new business model, the report added.
The pandemic presents challenges and opportunities to companies in information and technology supply chains and Taiwanese firms need to plan ahead five to 10 years to stay ahead of global rivals, Ennostar Inc (富采投控) chairman Lee Biing-jye (李秉傑) said in the report.
Future competition would take place between supply chains and alliances, and local firms need to understand the trend so that they can secure advantageous positions and stay competitive, Lee said.
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Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has retired from the company and stepped down from its board of directors just as the company is in the middle of trying to execute a turnaround plan. Intel chief financial officer David Zinsner and Intel Products CEO Michelle Johnston Holthaus are serving as interim co-CEOs while the board searches for Gelsinger’s replacement, the company said in a statement. Frank Yeary, independent chair of the board of Intel, is to serve as interim executive chair, the company said. Gelsinger’s departure is hitting at a tumultuous time for the US chipmaker. Once the industry leader in
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