FBT to Acquire Chinfon's Motorcycle-seat Manufacturing Subsidiary in Vietnam

Taipei, June 22, 2006 (CENS)--Taiwan's Fine Blanking & Tool Co., Ltd. (FBT) is scheduled to acquire the Vietnam-based motorcycle-seat manufacturing subsidiary of Taiwan's Chinfon Group.

With the acquisition, FBT is expected to immediately win at least a 40% share in the Vietnam motorcycle-seat market and will gain opportunities to tap into the supply chains of Yamaha and Honda's motorcycle plants in Vietnam.

Currently, Chinfon Group operates Vietnam Manufacturing and Export Processing Co. Ltd. (VMEP), the No. 2 powered two-wheeler (PTW) manufacturer in Vietnam, which makes and markets products carrying the SYM brand in that market.

Industry sources said that the acquisition would be jointly conducted by FBT, FBT affiliate GSK Corp. (the GSK Group's flagship company), and Of Age International Co., Ltd.

GSK has been actively developing its business deployment in Vietnam in recent years. In late 2004, GSK began constructing a plant there that will produce motorcycle brake discs, seats, and transmission gears. The Vietnam subsidiary is scheduled to begin mass production in the third quarter this year.

The initial investment amount at GSK Vietnam is about US$4.2 million, and GSK's Taiwan headquarters has decided to pour additional US$2.8 million into the new overseas subsidiary. GSK's acquisition is another indicator of the group's ambitions to tap the motorcycle-parts market in Vietnam.

Industry sources pointed out that GSK also plans to develop its motorcycle-parts business in northern Vietnam through mergers in order to acquire a production facility.

GSK is a tier-one auto- and motorcycle-parts supplier with more than 40 reinvested subsidiaries around the world and has annual revenue of more than NT$30 billion (US$923.08 million at US$1: NT$32.5). The company has won OEM parts orders from many world-leading motorcycle brands such as Piaggio of Italy, Peugeot of France, Harley Davison of the U.S., and BMW of Germany, as well as the world's largest automotive seat-belt maker, Autoliv. GSK is currently the only Autoliv-certified seat-belt supplier in Asia.