Siltronic says Global Wafers won't complete US$5b takeover

[TOKYO] GlobalWafers' planned takeover of Siltronic AG will not be completed as the companies failed to obtain regulatory approval before their Jan 31 deadline.

The US$5 billion deal will not be completed and the business combination agreement includes a clause for GlobalWafers to pay a termination fee of 50 million euros (S$75.9 million) to Siltronic in the event of failure to obtain required regulatory approvals within the applicable deadlines, Siltronic said in a statement Tuesday (Feb 1).

GlobalWafers struggled to win over Germany's Economy Ministry at a time when governments around the world are on alert over the risk of losing out on key technology.

At a closed-door meeting on Friday (Jan 28), GlobalWafers chief executive officer Doris Hsu failed to resolve the government's concerns. The meeting marked the firm's final opportunity to convince Germany to back the deal after the ministry had reviewed the transaction for more than 1 year.

The company had offered the government special voting rights via a "golden share" as well as ways to undo the purchase or sell back key assets in Munich-based Siltronic, Bloomberg News reported. BLOOMBERG