Lite-On to take over BenQ's ODD business
Posted on 10/04/06 13:30 by Johnny                             
Lite-On to take over BenQ's ODD business

No, it's not a late April fool's: BenQ and Lite-On have today announced that Lite-On will acquire BenQ's optical disc drive business including BenQ's ODM customer portfolio and BenQ's technology portfolio. This will make Lite-On the second largest ODD maker in the world with 27% of the market and Hitachi-LG, Lite-On(-BenQ) and Toshiba-Samsung will together now have about 80% of the total ODD market for half-height drives.  

'This strategic alliance combined with our manufacturing advantages, will allow Lite-On IT to further sharpen its competitiveness in the ODM market and become the No. 2 ODD manufacturer worldwide," expressed Raymond Soong, Chairman of Lite-On IT. 'In partnering with BenQ, Lite-On IT expects to benefit from increased manufacturing efficiency, greater economies of scale, and a larger market share."

'We believe our customers will benefit from this powerful partnership," commented K.Y. Lee, Chairman of BenQ Corporation. 'BenQ will continue focusing on the marketing and sales of our storage products and this strategic transaction will allow BenQ to better address our ODD branded and 3C opportunities and customers' needs," added Mr. Lee.

Terms and Conditions
Lite-On IT will acquire BenQ's storage-related assets, including BenQ's ODM customer portfolio and the right to use BenQ's technology portfolio consisting of storage-related patents and licenses. Lite-On IT will also receive order commitments on BenQ-branded storage products. BenQ will receive approximately NT$1.2 billion in cash and acquire a 13% stake in Lite-On IT.  With this transaction, BenQ will become Lite-On IT's second largest shareholder and a long-term strategic partner. Additionally, BenQ will acquire two seats on Lite-On IT's board of directors. Both companies expect to close the transaction on or about 1 June 2006.

Thanks to karangguni, Hemispasm and D4rk0n3 for submitting the news!

Source: BenQ

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