Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (ASE, 日月光半導體) yesterday said it has bought 25 percent shares of rival Siliconware Precision Industries Co (SPIL, 矽品精密) as planned in a takeover bid worth NT$35 billion (US$1.06 billion).
The purchase poses a risk to SPIL’s management team, but SPIL said it hopes ASE will keep its promise to stay out of SPIL’s operations.
SPIL also said it plans to continue with its plans to swap shares with Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密).
Photo: Wang Meng-lun, Taipei Times
However, ASE’s hostile takeover bid is likely to trigger a new round of fighting between ASE and Hon Hai at an extraordinary meeting of SPIL shareholders scheduled for Oct. 15.
ASE said in a statement that investors tendered almost 1.15 billion shares in SPIL over its NT$45 per share offer for 779 million shares.
While 36.83 percent of SPIL shares were tendered, ASE said it had capped its acquisition at its planned 25 percent.
“SPIL will face a critical vote during the shareholders’ meeting, as the company management is likely to try every effort to win shareholders’ approval for the proposal to form a partnership with Hon Hai via a share swap,” First Capital Management Inc (第一金證券投顧) said.
The proposed alliance would make Hon Hai, with a 21.24 percent stake, SPIL’s biggest shareholder.
The share swap plan requires 50 percent of SPIL shareholders to attend next month’s meeting and for 66 percent of the attendees to vote yes.
If the measure is approved, it would reduce ASE’s holding in SPIL to about 19 percent.
First Capital said ASE was certain to seek a no vote in the meeting to stifle the planned alliance, but it would need to gain about one-third of shareholders’ proxies to vote against SPIL management’s position.
That could prompt Hon Hai to make a tender offer to SPIL in order to safeguard its interest and avoid a potential debacle, the brokerage said.
Hon Hai chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) yesterday said he does not think ASE’s purchase would create synergy between ASE and SPIL because there is too much overlap in their client lists.
“The two companies have an overlap of more than 85 percent in their clients,” Gou said.
“What if the two companies jointly raise the prices in the market? What if they decide not to supply products to specific clients? I do not think their clients will accept it,” he said.
However, if ASE’s acquisition is simply a financial investment and will not interfere with SPIL’s management, Gou said he would welcome ASE to be a “happy investor” in SPIL.
The Financial Supervisory Commission said that it has no opinion on the matter, as public tender offers are a free-market mechanism.
Barring violations such as insider trading and failure in meeting procedural requirements, “whether it is a poison pill or a golden parachute, these tactics are quite common in mature markets,” commission Chairman William Tseng (曾銘宗) said.
Tseng said consolidation could be beneficial for certain industries to create synergistic gains where “one plus one may be greater than two.”
Additional reporting by Lauly Li and Ted Chen
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS