Doosan (000150) Group started to acquire Tesna (131970), a semiconductor back-end process testing company. It is a strategy to increase competitiveness in new businesses by investing in the semiconductor field, where demand is expected to increase. Reporter Kim Jong-ho covered the relevant news.
Tesna, Korea’s No. 1 semiconductor back-end process testing company. When it came out for sale last year, many domestic companies paid attention. This is because Tesna has large conglomerates such as Samsung Electronics (005930) and SK Hynix (000660) as its main customers, and the semiconductor boom is expected to continue for the time being.
In the midst of this, news broke that the Doosan Group was close to acquiring Tesna as it was actively negotiating. It is expected that Doosan and Ace Equity Partners, a private equity fund (PEF) manager that currently owns Tesna’s management rights, can sign an acquisition contract as early as this month.
It is known that Doosan intends to acquire a 30.62% stake in Tesna owned by Ace Equity Partners for about 460 billion won. Previously, Ace Equity Partners acquired Tesna for about 200 billion won in November 2019, and if this contract is concluded, it will more than double the profit from the sale in about two years.
Considering the recent boom in the semiconductor industry, Ace Equity Partners is said to have decided that now is the right time to sell Tesna. In fact, the size of the sale is more than 15% higher than the price set last year.
From the perspective of Doosan, who has recently been interested in a new growth industry, Tesna seems to have been an attractive sale. In particular, it is analyzed that the semiconductor back-end process market is a ‘net’ business that can guarantee high profitability thanks to the recent rapid growth of system semiconductors.
There are expectations that Tesna will also be freed from the hands of private equity funds and will be able to operate more stable in the future, but some advise that we should wait and see the situation until the sale is complete.
[박찬호 현대차증권 연구원]
“First of all, I think that the picture of taking over (Tesna) from the other side is valid, but I think it is too early to predict that ‘Doosan Group will buy it’. As the private equity fund continues to show interest in the sale, I wonder if it will materialize.”
Meanwhile, Doosan plans to finance the acquisition of financial institutions along with internal funds of KRW 230 billion to prepare the price for the acquisition of Testna.
This is Edaily TV Kim Jong-ho.