IT Home reported on June 7 that Yageo, the world's second largest supplier of passive electronic components, plans to acquire Japanese counterpart Shibaura Electronics. Chen Taiming, founder and chairman of Guoju, said that this move will bring a "win-win" situation to both sides.
Guo Ju, the world's second largest supplier of passive electronic components, is second only to Japan's Murata, providing key components to technology giants such as Apple, Nvidia and Tesla.
In an interview with Nikkei, Chen Taiming said that Guoju's current products cover nearly 90% of passive components on global electronic equipment printed circuit boards. He stressed that the acquisition of Shibaura Electronics is part of the company's strategy, aiming to create a "one-stop" service to meet all customer needs.
Guoju's revenue last year was approximately US$4 billion (IT Home Note: the current exchange rate is approximately RMB 28.753 billion), and plans to further expand the market through this acquisition, especially in the AI and automotive fields.
Chen Taiming pointed out that AI and high-performance computing require higher power and voltage electronic components, which will become a new engine for industry growth. In electronic devices, passive components such as resistors and multi-layer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) play a role in stabilizing circuits and controlling currents, and their quality directly affects the durability of the equipment.
Taking market demand as an example, an iPhone requires 1200 to 1500 MLCCs and 600 to 700 chip resistors, while an electric car requires up to 18000 MLCCs and 12000 resistors.
AI server demand is equally astonishing, with Nvidia's upcoming GB300 system requiring 6000 to 7000 chip resistors for just calculating the pallet. Guoju currently produces about 110 billion MLCCs per month and 120 billion chip resistors, the world's largest production capacity.
While Kwon hopes to achieve synergies through the acquisition of Shibaura Electronics, Shibaura is reserved and seeks help from Japanese parts supplier MinebeaMitsumi to counter Guoju's stock market offer.
Chen Taiming emphasized that the acquisition will bring resource injection to Shibaura, ensuring that technology remains in Japan, enhance its R&D capabilities and expand equipment investment. He said that Guojiu has no intention of letting technology go out and hopes to help Shibaura expand its European and American markets through strategic cooperation. The management teams of both parties will meet in Tokyo in mid-June to discuss the details of the acquisition.
Public information shows that Guoju was founded in 1977 In 2019, it is now the world's largest chip resistor and tantalum capacitor manufacturer, the third largest stacked ceramic capacitor (MLCC) and inductor manufacturer. It has 29 marketing service bases, 61 production bases and 20 R&D centers in 25 countries around the world, with more than 40,000 employees worldwide and annual revenue exceeding US$4 billion. Before this, Guoju has initiated many acquisitions, including:
In October 2022, Guoju announced the acquisition of the French Schneider Electric Advanced Industrial Sensor Division in cash, with a total price of 686 million euros; on November 1, 2023, the two parties completed various mergers and delivery operations.
On November 12, 2019, Guoju and Jimei announced a final agreement to acquire all of Jimei's issued and outstanding common shares at a price of US$27.20 per share, with a total transaction amount of approximately US$1.64 billion.
On April 27, 2018, Guoju announced that it plans to acquire all equity shares of Junyao Company in the open market at NT$73 per share. On September 28, 2018, Guoju announced the formal completion of the acquisition of Junyao Company.
In 1996, Guoju acquired Vitrohm, a German manufacturer of high-function winding resistors.
In 1995, Guoju and Zhibao Electronics reached an acquisition agreement, and Guoju obtained more than 20% of the shares of Zhibao Group.
Shira Electronics was founded in 1953 and was originally a manufacturer of copper suboxide rectifiers and other thermistors and varistors. Now it has become a global thermistor market giant, with more than 4,800 employees and annual revenue of over 32 billion yen.
