Ginko International Co (金可國際), the nation’s biggest maker of contact lenses, yesterday said that its board of directors approved a takeover bid of NT$27.18 billion (US$976.43 million) by Glamor Vision Ltd and its subsidiary Glamor International Ltd.
The Glamor offer was to buy all 97.07 million Ginko shares for NT$280 each, Ginko said in statement submitted to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
That represents a premium of 38.61 percent compared with Ginko’s closing price of NT$202 on Thursday.
After the transaction, Ginko would become a private company, with all shares delisted from Taipei Exchange, the statement said.
The firm’s global headquarters in Taichung and its China headquarters in Shanghai would continue to operate as usual, it said.
All factories, product development and distribution networks would remain unchanged, it said.
The deal is expected to be completed on May 26, it said.
The sale is to enhance Ginko’s operating efficiency and competitiveness, the statement said.
The deal with Glamor would give Ginko greater flexibility to form its development strategies and expand its global footprint, Ginko said, adding that it would allow it to leverage Glamor Vision owner Baring Private Equity Asia’s (霸菱亞洲投資) strength in global expansion experience and expertise.
Ginko sells contact lenses under the Deesse, Timido, Kukka, Eye Secret and Syreni brands, along with the Hydron (海昌) and Horien (海儷恩) brands.
It is the biggest contact lens supplier in Taiwan and China, with a 22 percent share in China last year.
Ginko’s parent, Formosa Optical Technology Co (寶島科), yesterday said it would swap the 18.39 percent stake of Ginko owned by its subsidiary New Path International Co for Glamor shares.
Ginko’s net profit expanded 24.81 percent annually to NT$787.75 million in the first three quarters of this year, compared with NT$631.15 million in the same period last year.
Earnings per share climbed to NT$8.11 from NT$6.5. Revenue surged about 30 percent year-on-year to NT$6.43 billion in the first three quarters, from NT$4.95 billion in the same period last year.
The US dollar was trading at NT$29.7 at 10am today on the Taipei Foreign Exchange, as the New Taiwan dollar gained NT$1.364 from the previous close last week. The NT dollar continued to rise today, after surging 3.07 percent on Friday. After opening at NT$30.91, the NT dollar gained more than NT$1 in just 15 minutes, briefly passing the NT$30 mark. Before the US Department of the Treasury's semi-annual currency report came out, expectations that the NT dollar would keep rising were already building. The NT dollar on Friday closed at NT$31.064, up by NT$0.953 — a 3.07 percent single-day gain. Today,
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The New Taiwan dollar and Taiwanese stocks surged on signs that trade tensions between the world’s top two economies might start easing and as US tech earnings boosted the outlook of the nation’s semiconductor exports. The NT dollar strengthened as much as 3.8 percent versus the US dollar to 30.815, the biggest intraday gain since January 2011, closing at NT$31.064. The benchmark TAIEX jumped 2.73 percent to outperform the region’s equity gauges. Outlook for global trade improved after China said it is assessing possible trade talks with the US, providing a boost for the nation’s currency and shares. As the NT dollar
PRESSURE EXPECTED: The appreciation of the NT dollar reflected expectations that Washington would press Taiwan to boost its currency against the US dollar, dealers said Taiwan’s export-oriented semiconductor and auto part manufacturers are expecting their margins to be affected by large foreign exchange losses as the New Taiwan dollar continued to appreciate sharply against the US dollar yesterday. Among major semiconductor manufacturers, ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光), the world’s largest integrated circuit (IC) packaging and testing services provider, said that whenever the NT dollar rises NT$1 against the greenback, its gross margin is cut by about 1.5 percent. The NT dollar traded as strong as NT$29.59 per US dollar before trimming gains to close NT$0.919, or 2.96 percent, higher at NT$30.145 yesterday in Taipei trading
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