Himax Technologies, Inc. (ADR) (NASDAQ:HIMX) has announced that it is selling one of its direct investments that it acquired about 10 years ago.
The company revealed yesterday that it is struck a deal with an interesting party to dispose of the investment which is based in China. The business is a display driver IC backend processing covering wafer bumping, packaging and chip testing facility. Himax revealed that the total proceeds from the sale should be about $32 million while the pre-tax gain is roughly $23.04 million. The gain after tax is expected to be $20.74 million.
Himax’s initial investment in the business was $8.96 million that is represented by a minority stake of 14.46% and no board representation in the investee company. The firm reportedly decided to dispose of the investment because its strategic value was diminished. Himax plans to use the proceeds from the sale to fund its hefty capital expenditure for this year.
“Himax’s initial investment amount of $8.96 million represented a minority stake of 14.46% in the investee company,” stated a report on the matter.
Himax strikes strategic partnership with QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM)
Meanwhile, Himax announced a few days ago that it was joining forces with giant chipmaker Qualcomm to venture into 3D sensing. The two firms will work towards creating 3D sensing solutions for a wide range of applications especially in vehicles and also in mobile devices. Such a move could offer significant upside to both companies.
Himax plans to invest roughly $80 million in boosting its wafer-level optics (WLO) capacity as it prepares to cater to a surge in demand from an anonymous client. It is safe to say that the company is betting big on 3D sensing and augmented reality.
The company seems to have attracted Qualcomm using its WLO technology and the two are planning to work on a high-resolution 3D camera system that will be available for the market. Qualcomm plans to offer its computer vision expertise for the joint project. Himax CEO Jordan Wu stated that he expects Android smartphone OEMs to boost user experience through the 3D camera module.
