AU Optronics Corp. today announced that as part of the value transformation plan, AUO’s Board of Directors decided to acquire 5% to 30% shares of ADLINK Technology Inc. via tender offer.

Through this tender offer, the two parties plan to form a strategic partnership for building an industrial and commercial AIoT ecosystem.

AUO, as a display provider of industrial and commercial applications, has a large and global industrial and commercial customer base. To meet customer demand, the company has extended its value range to transform into an AIoT solution provider with displays being the core component. ADLINK, a global leader in industrial computers, offers computing products and solutions for numerous vertical fields of industrial and commercial applications. ADLINK has been able to propose scalable software and hardware platform integration solutions designed for artificial intelligence applications.

"The advent of the 5G era has accelerated AI development for industries. It is foreseeable that edge AI solutions will be progressively introduced to a variety of vertical domains across industries," said Paul SL Peng, AUO's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "We are honored to draw on ADLINK’s profound experience in the industrial PC field. ADLINK’s outstanding expertise in computing systems, coupled with AUO’s quality panels for human-machine interface, will allow customers around the world to enjoy comprehensive AIoT software and hardware integration services in a timely manner."

"We are glad for ADLINK to join AUO in forming an AIoT ecosystem. For AIoT field application in the future, ADLINK will put forward a more strategic value proposition for customers,” said Jim Liu, ADLINK’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “We are long-term partners with AUO, and we share the same vision on strategic transformation. Moving forward, developing closer ties with AUO will allow ADLINK to realize its smart solutions across diverse verticals, and also cultivate stronger customer relationships together.”

The tender offer consideration for each common share will be NT$57 in cash. The tender offer period will run from February 7, 2020 to March 12, 2020. The planned maximum acquisition amount is 65,249,177 shares of ADLINK (approximately 30.0% of the total issued and outstanding shares of ADLINK), and the minimum acquisition amount is 10,874,863 shares (equivalent to around 5.0% of the total issued and outstanding shares of ADLINK). If the number of shares effectively tendered reaches minimum acquisition amount, the condition regarding the purchase amount in this tender offer is satisfied.