Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (ASE, 日月光半導體), the world’s biggest chip packager and tester, yesterday said it bought a 5 percent stake of Siliconware Precision Industries Inc (SPIL, 矽品精密) on the open market, meeting the minimum requirement in its NT$35 billion (US$1.07 billion) bid to take over the local rival.
The progress boosted ASE’s confidence of acquiring SPIL, with the company saying it will continue to make cash purchases of SPIL stock at NT$45 per share until Tuesday as planned, according to an ASE statement.
The Kaohsiung-based company aims to buy as many as 770 million SPIL shares, or a 25 percent stake, which will make ASE its second-largest stakeholder.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
“As the minimum condition has been satisfied, ASE will pay NT$45 per common share and NT$225 per ADR [American depositary receipt] payable in the equivalent amount of US dollars on or before Sept. 30,” ASE said in the statement.
As of yesterday, ASE had bought about 156.55 million common SPIL shares, including its US depositary receipts, surpassing the tender offer’s threshold of 155.82 million shares, the statement said.
In a struggle to defend its ownership, SPIL again suggested that investors not tender their shares, or withdraw tenders made to ASE on grounds that NT$45 per share is unreasonable.
The offer price represents a mere 6.76 percent premium on SPIL’s closing price of NT$42.15 on Thursday, SPIL said in a note to shareholders yesterday.
SPIL, the world’s No. 3 chip packager, reiterated that a SPIL-ASE tie-up would not create much synergy, as 85 percent of its customers overlap with ASE’s.
The acquisition will cause order losses for SPIL, as customers will allocate some orders to a third supplier rather than put all their eggs in one basket, the note said.
In a bid to block the acquisition, SPIL has agreed to form a strategic alliance with Apple Inc’s major iPhone and iPad assembler, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd (鴻海精密), via a share swap.
The proposed alliance with Hon Hai will create greater synergy in terms of customers and technology, SPIL said.
The firm’s board of directors recommended that shareholders support the strategic alliance with Hon Hai, which is to be discussed at an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting on Oct. 15.
SPIL employees also opposed ASE’s bid.
A group of SPIL employees rallied in front of the Ministry of Labor building in Taipei, saying the deal puts their jobs at risk, citing ASE’s track record of layoffs following merger-and-acquisition deals.
The employees asked the ministry not to sell its SPIL holdings.
The ministry has about a 5.8 percent stake in SPIL via three public pension funds, SPIL records showed.
The ministry said it would evaluate whether the funds would remove SPIL shares from their portfolios due to ASE’s bid, as the funds seek stable, long-term returns.
Separately, ASE urged the ministry to remain neutral over its offer.
ASE said it will not intervene in the operation of SPIL, as the takeover would be an investment.
ASE will by no means harm the interests of SPIL employees, it said.
The company added that it has expanded its local workforce from 25,274 to 35,686 over the past 10 years.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
CHIP WAR: The new restrictions are expected to cut off China’s access to Taiwan’s technologies, materials and equipment essential to building AI semiconductors Taiwan has blacklisted Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯), dealing another major blow to the two companies spearheading China’s efforts to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) chip technologies. The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ International Trade Administration has included Huawei, SMIC and several of their subsidiaries in an update of its so-called strategic high-tech commodities entity list, the latest version on its Web site showed on Saturday. It did not publicly announce the change. Other entities on the list include organizations such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as companies in China, Iran and elsewhere. Local companies need
CRITICISM: It is generally accepted that the Straits Forum is a CCP ‘united front’ platform, and anyone attending should maintain Taiwan’s dignity, the council said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it deeply regrets that former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) echoed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “one China” principle and “united front” tactics by telling the Straits Forum that Taiwanese yearn for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to move toward “peace” and “integration.” The 17th annual Straits Forum yesterday opened in Xiamen, China, and while the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) local government heads were absent for the first time in 17 years, Ma attended the forum as “former KMT chairperson” and met with Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧). Wang
OBJECTS AT SEA: Satellites with synthetic-aperture radar could aid in the detection of small Chinese boats attempting to illegally enter Taiwan, the space agency head said Taiwan aims to send the nation’s first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite into space in 2027, while the first Formosat-8 and Formosat-9 spacecraft are to be launched in October and 2028 respectively, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council laid out its space development plan in a report reviewed by members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Six LEO satellites would be produced in the initial phase, with the first one, the B5G-1A, scheduled to be launched in 2027, the council said in the report. Regarding the second satellite, the B5G-1B, the government plans to work with private contractors
RSS