Yageo completes tender offer for Japanese firm

Taipei, Oct. 21 (CNA) Taiwan-based Yageo Corp., the world's third largest maker of multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCC), said Tuesday it has completed a tender offer for Japan's Shibaura Electronics Co., and expects to take the Japanese firm completely under its corporate umbrella in the first quarter of 2026.

Yageo said it completed the tender offer with an acceptance rate of 87.3 percent as of Monday, the deadline for the deal, far above the threshold of 50.01 percent of Shibaura, which the Taiwanese suitor described as a "globally recognized" maker of negative temperature coefficient (NTC) thermistors.

Under Japanese securities rules, Yageo said it will continue to acquire the remaining Shibaura shares and the acquisition is expected to be completed with the Japanese firm becoming one of its subsidiaries during the January-March period of next year.

Japanese news media reported Tuesday that Shibaura will be delisted from the stock market after the acquisition is completed in the first quarter.

Yageo said the buy-in seeks to expand its NTC thermistor business to a scale that will significantly boost the company's global competitive edge.

According to Yageo, the company will lend support to Shibaura to strengthen its production capabilities in the Japanese market, while Shibaura is expected to take advantage of Yageo's global marketing network and its broad customer base to gain a higher share of the global market, in particular in the Americas and Europe.

"This milestone represents a pivotal advancement in Yageo's global strategy within the electronic components industry and reinforces our unwavering commitment to long-term investment in the Japanese market," the Taiwanese company said in a statement.

On May 9, Yageo launched a tender offer to acquire Shibaura at 6,200 Japanese yen (US$41.01) per share -- a 14.8 percent increase on its previous offer of 5,400 yen. That move came after Japanese rival bidder MinebeaMitsumi Inc. raised its bid from 4,500 yen to 5,500 yen.

With MinebeaMitsumi continuing to raise its bid, Yageo followed suit, boosting its offer to 6,635 yen on Aug. 21 and to 7,130 yen on Aug. 23.

On Sept. 16, Shibaura issued a statement endorsing Yageo's tender offer after the Taiwanese suitor secured foreign direct investment (FDI) clearance from the Japanese authorities on Sept. 2 for its offer to acquire Shibaura.

Founded in 1977, Yageo has pursued growth through acquisitions in recent years, focusing on high-end passive component development.

Among its past deals, Yageo bought U.S.-based Pulse Electronics Corp. for NT$22 billion (US$716 million) in 2018, cementing its MLCC status, and acquired American counterpart Kemet Corp. for US$1.64 billion in 2020.

In 2023, Yageo acquired Schneider Electric's French-based Telemecanique Sensors in an all-cash deal worth 686 million euros (US$795 million) to strengthen its specialty electronic component business.

With a workforce of more than 40,000 worldwide, Yageo currently runs 61 production sites in 35 countries and 20 research and development centers.