The 4.35 billion euro ($5.06 billion) sale of German chipmaker Siltronic to Taiwanese rival GlobalWafers will likely be delayed as talks with regulators drag on, Siltronic said on Friday.
GlobalWafers secured a majority stake in Siltronic this year and hoped to have the transaction, which aims to create the world’s second largest maker of 300-millimetre wafers, wrapped up in late 2021, but it requires several approvals.
Under the terms of the deal, the takeover would fall through if GlobalWafers failed to collect all the approvals by Jan. 31.
At the same time, the German economy ministry, one of the authorities that needs to approve the deal, was still examining the situation and did not have a fixed deadline for making a final decision, a ministry spokesperson said on Friday.
“There is a legal framework, but there are no fixed rigid deadlines. The result and timing also depends on the negotiations that are being conducted in other countries,” she said.
GlobalWafers also needs approvals from Japanese, Chinese and British antitrust authorities as well as Britain’s economy ministry, according to a mandatory announcement published this month.
“GlobalWafers and Siltronic continue to negotiate constructively with the authorities on the terms of the outstanding approvals,” Siltronic said in a statement.
Source: Reuters.com