Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (ASE, 日月光半導體) yesterday clinched its acquisition of Siliconware Precision Industries Co (SPIL, 矽品精密) in an usual way, as SPIL agreed to a proposal to become a subsidiary of a new industrial holding company to be owned by ASE.
The announcement ends a nine-month ownership fight, as SPIL management has resisted a series of what it termed hostile takeover bids by ASE, the world’s biggest chip tester and packager.
SPIL officials yesterday signed a joint share-exchange memorandum of understanding (MOU) with their ASE counterparts to push for the creation of the holding company.
Photo: CNA
The signing came just one day after ASE issued a statement to say the two firms were in talks to create a joint venture holding company.
Based on the memorandum, SPIL is to sell all of its shares to the holding company at NT$55 per share, while ASE shareholders will be able to swap each of their ASE shares for 0.5 shares in the holding company.
ASE is to hold almost all shares of the new entity, which will only have 3.9 billion capital shares, half of ASE’s 7.8 billion shares.
The holding company is to own 100 percent equity interests in ASE and SPIL, while both existing firms will retain their legal entities.
However, the two companies are to be delisted from the Taiwan Stock Exchange, and the new holding company will debut its shares on the exchange and on Wall Street, the statement said.
“We believe the integration will generate more strength for us to expand our market share. I believe this is the main reason SPIL agreed to collaborate with ASE,” ASE chairman Jason Chang (張虔生) told a news conference in Taipei.
Chang said ASE and SPIL have a combined 15 percent global share and there is ample room for them to expand shares to 30 or even 40 percent in the wake of industrial integration.
SPIL chairman Bough Lin (林文伯), who had opposed ASE’s bids since August last year, said the proposal to allow SPIL to maintain its independent operation was the key factor behind his U-turn.
As ASE and SPIL are to operate independently under the new venture, Lin said he believes this would reduce customers’ concerns as much as possible and would have long-term positive spin-offs for both companies.
Although SPIL’s shareholders will not hold any stake in the holding company, ASE invited Lin and SPIL president president Tsai Chi-wen (蔡祺文) to be board directors of the new holding company.
Based on the MOU, ASE and SPIL are each to retain their respective management teams and employees, while their organizational structures, compensation, benefits and personnel regulations are to remain unchanged.
However, the memorandum needs approval from each firm’s shareholders, as well as from regulatory agencies around the world.
US-CHINA SUMMIT: MOFA welcomed US reassurance of no change in its Taiwan policy; Trump said he did not comment when Xi talked of opposing independence US President Donald Trump yesterday said he has not made a decision on whether to move forward with a major arms package for Taiwan after hearing concerns about it from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Trump’s comments on Taiwan came as he flew back to Washington after wrapping up critical talks in which both leaders said important progress was made in stabilizing US-China relations even as deep differences persist between the world’s two biggest powers on Iran and Taiwan. “I will make a determination,” Trump said, adding: “I’ll be making decisions. But, you know, I think the last thing we need right
SECURITY: Taipei presses the US for arms supplies, saying the arms sales are not only a reflection of the US security commitment to Taiwan but also serve as a mutual deterrent against regional threats Taiwan is committed to preserving the cross-strait “status quo” and contributing to regional peace and stability, the Presidential Office said yesterday. “It is an undeniable fact that the Republic of China is a sovereign and independent democratic nation,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) reiterated, adding that Beijing has no right to claim sovereignty over Taiwan. The statements came after US President Donald Trump warned against Taiwanese independence. Trump wrapped up a state visit to Beijing on Friday, during which Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had pressed him not to support Taiwan. Taiwan depends heavily on US security backing to deter China from carrying
The subsidiary of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in Kumamoto, Japan, turned a profit in the first quarter of this year, marking the first time the first fab of the unit has become profitable since mass production started at the end of 2024. According to the contract chipmaker’s financial statement released on Friday, Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Inc (JASM), a joint venture running the fab in Kumamoto, posted NT$951 million (US$30.19 million) in profit in the January-to-March period, compared with a loss of NT$1.39 billion in the previous quarter, and a loss of NT$3.25 billion in the first quarter of
RESOLUTE BACKING: Two Republican senators are planning to introduce legislation that would impose immediate sanctions on China if it attempts to invade Taiwan US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson on Sunday reaffirmed US congressional support for Taiwan, saying the US and “all freedom-loving people” have a stake in preventing China from seizing Taiwan by force. Johnson made the remarks in an interview with Fox News Sunday on US President Donald Trump’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) last week. In an interview that aired on Friday on Fox News, just as Trump wrapped up a high-stakes visit to China, he said he has yet to green-light a new US$14 billion arms package to Taiwan and that it “depends on China.” “It’s a very good
RSS