News: Suppliers
9 October 2020
IQE acquires outstanding stake in IQE Taiwan
Epiwafer foundry and substrate maker IQE plc of Cardiff, Wales, UK has acquired third-party shareholdings in its majority-owned subsidiary IQE Taiwan Corp, taking its ownership from 90.18% to 100%.
The acquisition was effected using a statutory share swap arrangement under Taiwan’s Business Mergers and Acquisitions Law. Selling shareholders who accepted the share swap will be issued with shares in IQE on the basis of the average closing price of IQE’s ordinary shares of 1p on AIM (the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange) in the 30-day period prior to the acquisition. Selling shareholders who rejected the share swap will have their shares in IQE Taiwan purchased for cash.
Selling shareholders representing 5.04% of the shares in IQE Taiwan (and 51% of the third-party shareholdings) accepted the share swap. The total payable to those shareholders is £1,437,646, which will be settled through the issue of 2,606,689 ordinary shares at an issue price of 55.15p per ordinary share (the consideration shares). Selling shareholders representing 4.78% of the shares in IQE Taiwan (and 49% of the third-party shareholdings) rejected the share swap and will have their shares in IQE Taiwan purchased for cash. IQE has agreed a cash price with a number of those shareholders but is waiting for the Taiwan Court to determine the price payable to the others, as part of the normal process to be followed under Taiwan’s Business Mergers and Acquisitions Law. IQE will therefore update the market once the total consideration has been determined.
The consideration shares rank ‘pari passu’ (on an equal footing) with the existing ordinary shares. The total number of ordinary shares in issue is hence 799,889,941 and the total number of voting rights is also 799,889,941.
“IQE’s Taiwan subsidiary is of strategic importance to the group as a base for epitaxy production in the Asia region,” says IQE’s chief financial officer Tim Pullen. “Having invested in the expansion of the facility in 2019 and looking forward to further growth in the future, I’m delighted to be bringing the entity under wholly owned status.”
IQE reports record first-half revenue of £89.9m
