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The
failed acquisition by Taiwan's GlobalWafers comes as a global
shortage of semiconductors has laid bare Europe's dependence on
Asian suppliers, which has triggered recent efforts to boost
production across the continent.
"It was not possible to complete all the necessary review steps
as part of the investment review - this applies in particular to
the review of the antitrust approval by the Chinese authorities,
which was only granted last week," a spokesperson for Germany's
Economy Ministry said.
On Jan. 21, China's market regulator said it would give
conditional approval for the acquisition.
GlobalWafers left the door open as to whether it would make
another offer, retracting an earlier statement on Tuesday in
which it shut out the possibility of taking another go.
Shares in Siltronic were up 4.8% at 1126 GMT. Siltronic shares
had been trading significantly below GlobalWafers offer price of
145 euros per share for some time after Siltronic flagged in
mid-January that the deal was in limbo.
A trader said any selloff by disappointed investors could offer
an entry point given that Siltronic could be worth more as a
standalone business.
"Some analysts already upgraded the stock when the approval
became unlikely," the trader said.
The German Economy Ministry, which has in recent years ramped up
reviews of planned takeovers of German companies by foreign
firms, said an investment review would be carried out again if
GlobalWafers chose to make a new acquisition attempt.
'IMPORTANT MARKET'
GlobalWafers CEO Doris Hsu said the outcome was "very
disappointing" and the company would "analyse the non-decision
of the German government and consider its impact on our future
investment strategy".
Hsu said she would announce on Feb. 6 the company's plans for
the 4.35 billion euros which the Siltronic purchase would have
cost. Hsu had said earlier the company would probably invest in
America if the deal failed.
"Europe remains an important market for GlobalWafers and it
remains committed to the customers and employees in the region,"
the company said in a statement, adding that it would have to
pay a termination fee of 50 million euros since regulatory
approvals were not obtained.
In a separate statement, Siltronic confirmed the takeover offer
had expired due to the German ministry's inaction and that the
company stood to receive the termination fee.
Majority shareholder Wacker Chemie, which owns a 30.83% stake in
Siltronic, said it regretted the economy ministry's decision,
adding it still intended to sell its remaining stake in
Siltronic in the medium-term.
The deal would have created the second-largest maker of
300-millimetre wafers, behind Japan's Shin-Etsu, as the
semiconductor industry consolidates.
Germany has become wary of changes to its high-tech supply
network after carmakers, one of its major sectors, were hit by
the global chip shortage.
A recent takeover of a European semiconductor company by an
Asian buyer that did go through was the purchase of Dialog
Semiconductor by Japan's Renesas Electronics Corp.
GlobalWafers secured a majority stake in Siltronic last year and
initially hoped to have the transaction wrapped up in late 2021.
($1 = 0.8896 euros)
(Reporting by Andreas Rinke, Alexander Huebner, Riham Alkousaa
and Ludwig Burger; Additional reporting by Christoph Steitz;
Editing by Robert Birsel and Bernadette Baum)
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