On the evening of May 6, WillSemi issued an announcement announcing that the China Securities Regulatory Commission had conditionally approved WillSemi’s acquisition of Beijing OmniVision Technologies and other underlying assets.
Previously, on April 16th, local time in the United States, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) had issued a notification letter, formally reviewed and approved WillSemi’s acquisition of Beijing OmniVision Technologies’ transaction materials, and determined that the above-mentioned transaction has no unresolved national security considerations . With the conditional acquisition of OmniVision Technologies by WillSemi by the China Securities Regulatory Commission, this also means that WillSemi has finally successfully acquired Beijing OmniVision Technologies.
Beijing OmniVision Technologies was formerly known as OmniVision Technologies, Inc., a well-known American semiconductor company established in 1995. OmniVision Technologies, Inc. is a leading digital imaging solution provider that designs and sells high-performance semiconductor image sensors. It is also known as the world's leading three major image sensor suppliers along with Sony in Japan and Samsung in South Korea. Howe Technology's global market share of mobile phones, automobiles, and security CIS ranks third, second, and first in the world, respectively.
In May 2015, OmniVision Technologies, Inc. was acquired by a consortium consisting of CITIC Capital, Beijing Tsingxin Huachuang and Jinshi Investment for US$1.9 billion, and was finally privatized in early 2016 and became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Beijing OmniVision Technologies. At that time, the shareholders of Beijing OmniVision Technologies were Kaiyuan Zhuque (Shenzhen) Equity Investment Partnership, Seagull Holdings Hong Kong Limited, Seagull Holdings Cayman Limited, Shenzhen Aoshijiachuang Equity Investment Partnership, and Beijing Integrated Circuit Design and Packaging and Testing Equity Investment Center. After the completion of the privatization, Beijing Haowei carried out several equity transfers afterwards. At present, its shareholder structure is relatively dispersed. The first few major shareholders are Jiaxing OmniVision Technologies, Qingdao Rongtong, Seagull Strategic Investment A3, Xinneng Investment, Jiaxing Shuimu, and Shanghai Tangxin Etc., other shareholders hold the company's equity shares below 5%.
In May 2018, WillSemi once again planned to acquire OmniVision Technologies. The latest transaction plan announced is to acquire 85.53% of Beijing OmniVision Technologies, 42.27% of Sibico and 79.93% of CVV at a transaction price of 13.512 billion yuan; In addition, the acquisition of 100% equity of Xinneng Investment and 100% equity of Xinli Investment for 1.687 billion yuan, so as to hold 10.55% equity of Beijing OmniVision Technologies, the transaction plan estimates the 100% equity of Beijing OmniVision Technologies about 16 billion yuan. The transaction value at the time of Howe's privatization and delisting in 2014 was $1.9 billion.