The market has been focused on whether Taiwan LED chipmaker Epistar’s private placement will draw large international investors. Epistar issued US $250 million (NT $7.5 billion) euro convertible bonds (ECB) to Philips in August 2013. However, the company has denied the transaction.
Epistar has had private placement plans for the past two years and the market has speculated many times whether or not the company will attract large international lighting shareholders. Many large manufacturers are willing to invest in Epistar, but are uncertain as to how many shares to buy which has lead to market rumors that Philips, GE, and Osram are potential investors, yet the situation remains to be clarified.
Epistar announced on Aug. 2nd, 2013that the company issued US $250 million ECB with a convertible price of NT$ 65.13/share, which has now dropped to NT $49.65/share with a premium over 30 percent. Market rumors are that Epistar has introduced strategic investors to sell convertible bonds at prices higher than on the market. However, Epistar released another announcement on Dec. 26th, 2013denying the rumor that Philips has claimed all ECB.
Looking at the company’s ownership structure in 2012, largest shareholder Nan Shan Life Insurance Co. had 7.82 percent in financial investment shares. Strategic investor LED package manufacturer Everlight had 4.07 percent in shares. Epistar Chairman B.J. Lee and Deputy General Manager Mingjun Zhou held less than 0.2 percent.
