Chinese Consortium to Acquire OmniVision for $1.9B

A group of Chinese private equity firms is planning to acquire OmniVision Technologies Inc. for approximately $1.9 billion.

The prospective buyers are Hua Capital Management Co. Ltd., CITIC Capital Holdings Ltd. and GoldStone Investment Co. Ltd.

Under an agreement between the parties, OmniVision stockholders would receive $29.75 per share in cash, or a total of approximately $1.9 billion.

"We are pleased to have reached this agreement, which we believe realizes significant value for our stockholders and offers new opportunities for our employees to develop more innovative solutions for customers," said Shaw Hong, chairman and CEO of OmniVision. "With our new partners' knowledge and insight and the added flexibility that we will have as a private company, OmniVision will be able to focus on reaching the next level of growth, which will benefit our employees, customers and business partners."

Yue Liu, a managing director at Hua Capital Management, said the deal will expand OmniVision's share of the mobile phone image sensor market in China and globally. He added that the company "is well positioned to capitalize on fast growing market opportunities in automotive, security, entertainment and the Internet of Things."

Hong is expected to remain CEO of OmniVision after the deal is finalized in the third or fourth quarter of fiscal 2016.

The acquisition has been unanimously approved by OmniVision's board of directors but is still subject to approval by OmniVision stockholders, government regulators in the U.S. and China, and other agencies. In order to obtain clearance or approval under applicable Taiwan law, OmniVision will divest certain investments in Taiwan, including certain interests in a joint venture.

OmniVision develops single-chip CMOS image sensors for consumer and commercial applications, including mobile phones and tablets, as well as security and surveillance systems, digital still and video cameras, and automotive and medical imaging systems.