MUNICH—A planned merger between Siltronic A.G., a producer of hyperpure silicone wafers, and GlobalWafers Co. Ltd. will not happen, after Germany's Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action failed to issue foreign trade clearance for the transaction.
Wacker Chemie owns a 30.83-percent stake in Siltronic, and had intended to sell the remaining share to GlobalWafers, bringing all of Siltronic under the latter company.
However, a Jan. 31 deadline was not met in receiving German government clearance, and the Dec. 9, 2020, pact reached between Wacker and GlobalWafers for the sale is void.
"We regret the decision by Germany's Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action not to approve the merger before expiry of the contract closing period," said Christian Hartel, president and CEO of Wacker. "We remain convinced that the merger of GlobalWafers and Siltronic would have been in the best interests not only of both companies, but also of the German and European semiconductor industries."
Hartel said Wacker "still intends to sell its remaining stake in Siltronic" but has no time constraints to do so.
"Siltronic has performed extremely well in recent years," he said. "It is excellently placed in terms of technology and is highly profitable. That makes our stake in Siltronic a financially accretive investment for us."
Wacker continues to post strong financial numbers, with group sales of about $7 billion in 2021, the company reported Jan. 22 in its year-end financials. This number is up by about a third from last year.
The silicone specialist posted an EBITDA of $1.7 billion, more than double last year's number.
Net income was about $882.8 million in 2021.
"This strong rise was mainly due to volume growth and higher selling prices across every business division," Wacker said Jan. 22. "Exchange-rate effects, on the other hand, dampened sales somewhat."