GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓) is close to clearing an important regulatory hurdle in its US$5.3 billion acquisition of German silicon wafer manufacturer Siltronic AG, people familiar with the matter said.
The Chinese State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) has said that it is largely comfortable with the antitrust remedies proposed by the companies and could make a formal decision shortly, the people said, asking not to be identified as they were discussing confidential information.
The deal still requires approval from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, and those discussions are ongoing, the people said.
Photo: CNA
GlobalWafers shares were up as much as 7.6 percent in Taipei yesterday, while Siltronic rose 1.1 percent in Frankfurt on Tuesday, giving it a market value of about US$4.7 billion.
“We are still waiting for the final approval in China, but all questions have been answered,” GlobalWafers chairwoman Doris Hsu (徐秀蘭) said in an interview with German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung published on Tuesday.
The German government might be concerned that GlobalWafers is headquartered in Taiwan, rather than in Europe, she added.
A representative for Siltronic declined to comment, while a SAMR spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment outside regular business hours.
A representative for the German economy ministry had no immediate comment.
GlobalWafers and Siltronic announced their tie-up in December 2020.
The companies said in October last year that they were in protracted discussions over regulatory clearances in China and Germany.
The takeover would be GlobalWafers’ largest ever and also one of the chip industry’s biggest in the past few years.
Competition in the market for semiconductors is heating up as companies that were once customers such as Apple Inc, are designing their own chips and established players such as Nvidia Corp branch out into new areas.
Headquartered in Munich, Siltronic is a leading maker of silicon wafers used in products such as smartphones, computers, navigation and digital displays.
It has production sites and offices in Germany, the US and other advanced manufacturing countries.
Nomura Holdings Inc advised GlobalWafers on the deal, while Credit Suisse Group AG worked with Siltronic.
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