Taiwan Electronics Billionaire Makes Second Sensor Acquisition In A Month

Taiwan electronics manufacturer Yageo, led by billionaire Pierre Chen, on Thursday announced its second overseas acquisition this month with the purchase of Schneider Electric’s Telemecanique Sensors for $729 million in cash.

Shares in Yageo, whose parts are found in everything from mobile phones to tablet PCs and cars, gained 9.8% to NT$367 at the Taiwan Stock Exchange today on the news. That helped to lift Chen’s fortune to $3.8 billion on the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List.

Yageo earlier in October also said it would buy Heraeus Nexensos GmbH — or Heraeus Nexensos — for approximately $78 million from Heraeus Holding. Hanau, Germany-headquartered Heraeus Nexensos makes thin-film temperature sensors for industrial and automotive automotive customers. The company has manufacturing sites in Germany and Malaysia and has about 480 full time employees.

“In a world that is rapidly moving towards everything smart and electrified, sensors are an integral part of that paradigm shift,” Chen said in a statement. See full announcements here and here.

Yageo in 2020 purchased U.S.-listed Kemet for $1.8 billion in 2020. In 2021, Yageo formed joint venture Xsemi with Taiwan’s Hon Hai, a world-leading contract electronics manufacturer and Apple supplier, to develop semiconductor components.

Taiwan has the world’s 22^nd largest economy and a home to world-ranking tech companies including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp., or TSMC, which makes computer chips for Intel, and numerous Apple suppliers include Hon Hai, Pegatron, Lite-On Technology, Inventec, Catcher Technology, Largan Precision and Compeq Manufacturing.

In addition to his shares in Yageo, Chen’s fortune partly comes from his art collection (see post here).

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@rflannerychina