65.6 billion yen! Yageo acquires a Japanese sensor manufacturer
Chen Taiming, chairman of Yageo, the king of mergers and acquisitions and a major passive component manufacturer, has made another move.Yageo announced in early February that it plans to publicly acquire 100% of the shares of Shibaura Electronics, a Japanese listed company, at 4,300 yen per share, with an expected total transaction amount of approximately 65.559 billion yen (approximately NT$14 billion). The transaction is scheduled to start on May 7, 2025 to expand Yageo's sensor business, and relevant regulatory approvals and other necessary procedures will be completed at the same time.
Yageo pointed out that this time it plans to acquire 100% of Shibaura Electronics, with a total of approximately 15.2462 million shares, but if the final number of effective shares sold does not reach the planned acquisition number, but has reached the minimum acquisition number of 7.6231 million shares (approximately 50% of the planned acquisition number), the quantity conditions for this public acquisition will still be met.
Shibaura Electronics was founded in 1953 and focuses on the manufacture of electronic components. It was originally a manufacturer of copper suboxide rectifiers and other thermistors and varistors. Today, it provides thermistor components and temperature sensor products, with more than 4,800 employees and annual revenue of more than 32 billion yen. It provides various solutions for terminal applications such as automotive, industrial equipment, home appliances and medical.
The industry pointed out that through the acquisition of Shibaura Electronics, Yageo will obtain advanced technologies in the field of sensors such as thermistors, which will help it further expand in the sensor market and enhance its competitiveness in the global market, especially in the Americas and Europe.
Regarding the benefits of the merger, Yageo pointed out that it is expected to provide more R&D resources to promote Shibaura Electronics' technological leadership, and invest financial resources to further support Shibaura Electronics' growth. It will also enhance Shibaura Electronics' production capacity and equipment in Japan to prepare for future growth.
Yageo emphasized that it hopes to expand Shibaura Electronics' customer coverage in the global market through Yageo's global channel distributor platform and global customer base to accelerate the growth of global market share, especially in the Americas and Europe. Therefore, Yageo is full of confidence in the comprehensive advantages, growth opportunities and integration benefits after the integration. From a strategic perspective, this is the key next step for Yageo to expand its sensor business.
The industry explains that thermistors are widely used in switching power supplies, module power supplies, temperature sensors, power supplies, electronic rectifiers, automatic adjustment heating, circuit protection and other places. They are small in size and high in power. They are mainly used in power circuits to suppress surge current, also known as surge current. Generally connected in series in the input circuit, it has a rated zero-power resistance value. When connected in series in the power supply circuit, it can effectively suppress the surge current at startup, and the power consumption is almost negligible. Due to its dual use as a temperature sensor and circuit protection element, thermistors can mainly target terminal markets such as automobiles, consumer electronics, digital electronics, industry and high reliability. It is consumed in major terminal markets such as automotive, consumer electronics, digital electronics, industrial and high reliability.
