COMPANIES Taiwan’s Innolux Display and Chi Mei Optoelectronics have agreed to merge in a $5.3bn transaction that will create the world’s third-biggest flat panel maker and a potential challenger to market leaders Samsung and LG Display.
The deal, announced Saturday, highlights how intense competition in the surging flat-screen television market is driving Taiwanese contract manufacturers to consolidate to capture growing Chinese demand. It is Innolux’s second deal in as many months after agreed to buy Toppoly Optoelectronics Corporation, another flat panel maker, in a share swap valued at $620m in October.
