USI's looking to accelerate expansion - acquires Asteelflash

The Shanghai-based electronics manufacturer has formally announced its intention to enter into an Equity Acquisition Agreement with the shareholder's of Asteelflash. It intends to acquire 100% equity of Asteelflash for USD 450 million, of which 89.6% is paid in cash, 10.4% is paid by issuing USI shares to a privately owned company of Asteelflash's founder, a press release reads. Asteelflash, with its 18 facilities and its more than 6'000 employees, will become an important subsidiary of USI, with existing operation and management team left unchanged. And with the backing of USI, the French EMS provider aims to capture more opportunities to increase large orders of major clients, and accelerate its business growth and expansion. In the context of heightened trade frictions on global markets, USI's move to acquire Asteelflash will enable it to provide a more diverse range of production bases to its clients as Asteelflash has operations in Tunisia, Czech Republic, Poland, France, Germany, UK, Mexico and USA. “USI's partnership with Asteelflash will make USI into a bigger platform with enhanced manufacturing know-how, extended global reach and more resources for R&D in cutting edge technologies. USI is a proven leader in the global EMS space, and together with Asteelflash and its team, we will continue to operate a world-class platform, better serve our customers, and expand into high-growth end markets, such as automotive, medical and industrial markets,” Jeffrey Chen, Chairman of USI, says in the press release.. Since 2018, USI has been expanding its global presence. Apart from expanding production in Taiwan, Mexico, and Guangdong of China, USI has completed a series of strategic investments, including acquiring production base in Poland, establishing joint ventures with Qualcomm in Brazil and with Sugon in mainland China, investing in PHI Fund, and engaged in the privatisation of Singapore based company, Memtech. The acquisition of Asteelflash will significantly strengthen USI's mix of manufacturing locations and capabilities across the globe. “USI stands on a solid basis in both expertise and experience in manufacturing, design and automation, which are of tremendous value for our further development and continued improvement. We will make the most of USI's capabilities to capture opportunities from different segments,” says Gilles Benhamou, CEO of Asteelflash. The transaction is subject to approval by the relevant competent authorities.