Berlin finally blocked the takeover of its silicon wafer star, Siltronic, by its Taiwanese competitor GlobalWafers. The duo would have reached approximately 30% market share, i.e. the second place in the world, between the Japanese Shin-Etsu Chemical and Sumco. The Korean SK Siltron (a subsidiary of SK Inc) follows with 13% market share, the equivalent of Siltronic’s current level. Siltronic is a spinoff from Wacker Chemie, which still owns 30.8% of the capital. The failure of the takeover by GlobalWafers will lead to a return of paper to the market. Siltronic and its management will say more about the future of the company tomorrow during the presentation of the annual results.
In the meantime, the file is less valued than its competitors, as shown by this graph swiped from a study by Berenberg. I also put here the link of the study carried out by Zonebourse in 2017 on the file, which brings which elements are still relevant on the company. At the time, we were already talking about the potential takeover by one of the three main competitors… that was without taking into account the German government and Europe’s awareness of technological issues.
The PER of the four “pure-players” in the sector (Source Berenberg)
Siltronic is one of the rare major European players in the semiconductor sector, more by its competitive position than by its stock market weight. Among the companies listed on the stock exchange, we must add by size (the capitalizations have been converted into dollars for ease):
- ASML (oligopolistic position in the manufacture of semiconductor production machines): $270.53 billion capitalization
- NXP Semiconductors (former semiconductor division of Philips, 14and world player in the sector by turnover, expertise in automotive, identification and networks): $54.6 billion
- Infineon (former semiconductor division of the Siemens conglomerate, 13th world player in the sector, expertise in automotive and energy): $53 billion
- STMicroelectronics (Franco-Italian group, 11th world player in the sector, expertise in mobility, energy and the Internet of Things): $42 billion
- ASM International (Advanced Semiconductor Materials is the former parent company of ASML, also a manufacturer of equipment for the sector): $16.5 billion
- BE Semiconductor (another Dutch player specializing in industrial equipment): $6.5 billion
- Soitec (exited as STMicro from the CEA-Leti ecosystem in Grenoble, the company has an alternative technology to standards in the semiconductor sector): $6.5 billion
- Nordic Semiconductor (the main Scandinavian player in the sector, specializing in particular in wireless systems): $5.5 billion
- AMS-OSRAM (the Austrian group recently took over OSRAM to diversify its activities): $4.3 billion
- Melexis (the Belgian company is a small player in the sector, which operates in mobility and the Internet of Things): $4.2 billion
- Siltronic: $3.9 billion