Local light-emitting-diode (LED) chipmaker Tyntek Corp (鼎元光電) said yesterday it would seek to acquire a smaller rival via share swap to expand its output of LED chips amid rapidly growing demand for flat panels.
The acquisition will help Tyntek secure the third spot in the nation’s LED chip industry, after Epistar Corp (晶電) and Optotech Corp (光磊).
Tyntek said its board has approved a proposal by management to acquire Ubilux Optoelectronics Corp (晶發光電), a LED chip manufacturing arm of Powerchip Semiconductor Corp (力晶半導體), the nation’s second-largest computer memory chipmaker.
“The acquisition will create a good business opportunity as flat-panel backlight and general light will be two major drivers for LED chips over the next two years,” Tyntek president J.R. Deng (鄧及人) told a press conference.
The Hsinchu-based company hopes to build a bigger presence in the booming LED backlight sector, as growing demand for LED TVs has caused severe supply constraint.
One Tyntek share will be exchanged for 1.375 Ubilux shares, the company said in a statement.
Tyntek will issue 88.07 million new common shares for Ubliux shareholders, making the deal worth about NT$2.81 billion (US$86.8 million) based on Tyntek’s closing price of NT$31.90 yesterday.
After the acquisition, Powerchip will become the biggest shareholder at Tyntek. The deal is scheduled to close on March 1.
In an aggressive capacity expansion, Tyntek aims to increase nine-fold its MOCVD tool, which is used to make LED chips, from six units at present to 30 units by the end of next year.
This would help generate at least NT$800 million in revenue next year and another NT$2.5 billion in 2011, Deng said.
Tyntek posted losses of NT$67.26 million in the first half of this year on sluggish demand, compared with net profits of NT$16 million a year ago. Revenues plunged 62 percent year-on-year to NT$1.3 billion, from NT$3.42 billion.
Tyntek shares jumped 2.41 percent to NT$31.90 yesterday.
PATENTS: MediaTek Inc said it would not comment on ongoing legal cases, but does not expect the legal action by Huawei to affect its business operations Smartphone integrated chips designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) on Friday said that a lawsuit filed by Chinese smartphone brand Huawei Technologies Co (華為) over alleged patent infringements would have little impact on its operations. In an announcement posted on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, MediaTek said that it would not comment on an ongoing legal case. However, the company said that Huawei’s legal action would have little impact on its operations. MediaTek’s statement came after China-based PRIP Research said on Thursday that Huawei filed a lawsuit with a Chinese district court claiming that MediaTek infringed on its patents. The infringement mentioned in the lawsuit likely involved
Taipei is today suspending work, classes and its US$2.4 trillion stock market as Typhoon Gaemi approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Authorities had yesterday issued a warning that the storm could affect people on land and canceled some ship crossings and domestic flights. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) expects its local chipmaking fabs to maintain normal production, the company said in an e-mailed statement. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp said it has activated routine typhoon alert
GROWTH: TSMC increased its projected revenue growth for this year to more than 25 percent, citing stronger-than-expected demand for AI devices and smartphones The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) yesterday raised its forecast for Taiwan’s GDP growth this year from 3.29 percent to 3.85 percent, as exports and private investment recovered faster than it predicted three months ago. The Taipei-based think tank also expects that Taiwan would see a 8.19 percent increase in exports this year, better than the 7.55 percent it projected in April, as US technology giants spent more money on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and development. “There will be more AI servers going forward, but it remains to be seen if the momentum would extend to personal computers, smartphones and
Catastrophic computer outages caused by a software update from one company have once again exposed the dangers of global technological dependence on a handful of players, experts said on Friday. A flawed update sent out by the little-known security firm CrowdStrike Holdings Inc brought airlines, TV stations and myriad other aspects of daily life to a standstill. The outages affected companies or individuals that use CrowdStrike on the Microsoft Inc’s Windows platform. When they applied the update, the incompatible software crashed computers into a frozen state known as the “blue screen of death.” “Today CrowdStrike has become a household name, but not in