Solectron Completes Acquisition of Natsteel Electronics.

Solectron Corp. (Milpitas, CA) says its tender offers to acquire all of NatSteel Electronics Ltd's (Singapore) shares and bonds have closed. Ninety-nine percent of the issued share capital of NatSteel Electronics and 99 percent of outstanding principal amount of bonds were tendered.

By exceeding the 90-percent threshold, Solectron will acquire the remaining shares of NatSteel Electronics through compulsory acquisition, under Singapore law. Once that step is completed, NatSteel Electronics will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Solectron and will be de-listed from the Main Board of the Singapore Stock Exchange.

"We welcome our NatSteel colleagues around the world to the Solectron family," said Ko Nishimura, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Solectron. "This is a significant and exciting step forward for our company."

The acquisition values NatSteel Electronics, the world's sixth-largest electronics manufacturing services provider, at about US$2.4 billion. As part of the acquisition, Solectron gains manufacturing sites in China, Hungary, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore and the U.S. In addition, about 12,000 NatSteel Electronics employees join Solectron.