IC assemblers halt merger plan — for now

Jan. 16, 2002 – Taipei, Taiwan – IC assembly and testing service providers Walton Advanced Electronics Ltd., Walsin Advanced Electronics Ltd., and Powertech Technology Inc. have decided to halt their merger plans.

The three companies agreed in September to merge, but recently decided to delay the project until the DRAM business improves, reported the Financial Times.

The three companies originally planned to combine through a 1:1:1 share swap. The combined body would have a capitalization of NT$6.7 billion ($191.42 million) and estimated annual revenue of NT$10 billion ($285.71 million). Walsin Advanced would be the only surviving company after the merger.

The new corporation would be 19% held by Walsin Lihwa Co., Ltd., 9% by Winbond Electronics Corp., 17% by Kingston Technology Co., 8% by Toshiba Corp., 5% by Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp., 4% by Powerchip Semiconductor Corp., and 2% by Macronix International Co., Ltd. and Silicon Storage Technology combined.

Walsin and Walton have denied speculations that the three companies will eventually cancel the plan altogether, and Powertech says that the final outcome of the merger proposal has not been decided, reported Financial Times.

The three companies originally planned to merge on Jan. 1 this year. It is still not clear when they will make a final decision on whether to go ahead with the project. Walton said the plan was suspended because the DRAM business is picking up, making a merger less urgent.

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