LAGUNA, PHILIPPINES -- A pair of Asia-based EMS firms with numerous facilities in the Philippines and China plan to merge in a deal worth SGD201 million (US$120.5 million).

Under the proposed terms, Integrated Microelectronics Inc. will acquire all 376.2 million outstanding shares of Speedy-Tech Electronics Ltd.

The deal is expected to close in the December quarter.

IMI, a privately held subsidiary of Ayala Corp., is heaquartered in the Philippines. Speedy-Tech is based in Singapore and publicy traded on the local exchange.

Under the proposed merger, Steely-Tech shareholders could accept cash, new IMI shares or a combination. Steely-Tech will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of IMI and will be delisted from the Singapore stock exchange. The transaction is subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals.

In a press release, IMI said the combined company would benefit from engineering resources in the Philippines and in the U.S. and a stronger and more diversified customer base. There is "minimal
customer overlap," IMI said.
    
In a statement, IMI president and CEO Arthur R. Tan said: "We are very excited about this merger with Speedy-Tech. Our goal is to become a strong tier-two global EMS player and expanding both our product competencies and geographical footprint is critical to our success. We felt that it was especially important to have a China presence in order to provide our customers with a broader range of customized solutions for their engineering and manufacturing needs.   

It's the second deal of late for IMI, which also recently acquired the EMS unit of Saturn Electronics. IMI had sales of US$110 million in 2004, making it the 40th largest EMS company in the world.

IMI has manufacturing facilities in Laguna and Cebu, Philippines, and engineering and design centers in Tustin, CA, and Alabang, Philippines.

STEL has five production facilities -- three in China, one in Singapore and one in Cavite, Philippines.