San'an expressed interest in lighting manufacturer
Munich The Chinese semiconductor company San'an Optoelectronics has the traditional Munich company Osram targeted. There had been initial contacts to explore an acquisition or a partnership, San'an said on Monday. Details about the price were but so far not been a topic. "There is no binding arrangements have been made." Osram did not want to comment on that.
About a possible takeover bid from China for luminaire manufacturers is speculated for some time. Last week spurred a media report of a qualified offer of San'an to mid-October the Osram course. It was also speculated on the possible sale of the 17.5 percent stake, to the former parent company Siemens still holds the luminaire manufacturer.According to the statement of the Chinese on Monday the shares turned however into the red - in the top 2.7 percent to 56.15 euros.
The federal government does not comment on the Chinese interest in Osram in content. A spokesman for the economy ministry referred in Berlin that it constitutes an entrepreneurial process. At the same time he noted that Germany was competing with countries that are not so open themselves."We do not want protectionism, but we want fair competition," he said. In should be discussed at European level. "We have also in China the situation is that we do not find there the same open terms how it is with us." The same applies to investment from China in Germany. Therefore, must be given to how to deal with it.
San'an is not entirely unknown in Germany. The company had in 2014 with a major order in deficit chip equipment manufacturerAixtron catered for hope of better times. Late last year San'an steamed to order a however - instead of 50 plants for the production of light-emitting diodes, it should only be three.Shares of Aixtron broke then.Meanwhile, the Chinese Grand Chip Investment, a subsidiary of the investment fund Fujian Gran chip Imvestment (FGC), gripped by Aixtron and wants the Aachener company for six euros per share - a total of 670 million euros - take. FGC and San'an are not related, as Liu Zhendong FGC Manager recently admitted in an interview with Spiegel magazine. But he denied that there had been an influence.
Osram as well as the competitors contend with the upheaval in the industry for some time. More and more customers pivot about the power-saving light-emitting diodes (LEDs), which are increasingly used in consumer electronics, automotive and industrial lighting. Osram CEO Olaf Berlien therefore align the Group consistently on LED chips and specialty lighting. The traditional bulb business Osram was sold to a bidder trio from China. That Berlien for the realignment of over one billion euros invested and built a mass production in Asia, met with shareholders as the former parent Siemens to massive criticism.