GlobalWafers is on the verge of clearing a major regulatory hurdle in its $5.3 billion acquisition of German silicon wafer maker Siltronic AG, according to people familiar with the matter.

China's State Administration for Market Regulation has said it is generally satisfied with the antitrust remedies proposed by the companies and may make a formal decision shortly, people familiar with the matter said. The deal still needs approval from the German economy ministry and those discussions are still ongoing, the people said.

“We are still waiting for the final approval from China. But all questions have been answered,” GlobalWafers chairman Doris Hsu said in an interview on Tuesday. She added that the German government may be concerned that Universal Crystal is based in Taiwan, not in Europe.

A representative for World Creation declined to comment, and a Bloomberg reporter could not immediately reach a spokesman for China’s State Administration for Market Regulation outside business hours. A representative for the German economy ministry had no immediate comment.

GlobalWafers announced in December 2020 that, with its subsidiary GlobalWafers GmbH, it will publicly acquire all the outstanding shares of Siltron, and will acquire 70.27% of Siltron's shares as scheduled during the extension of the statutory public acquisition period to complete the acquisition target.

In addition, according to the latest progress of GlobalWafers' public acquisition of German silicon wafer fab Shichuang updated on October 22 last year, GlobalWafers has completed the review of anti-monopoly authorities in the United States, Singapore, Germany, Austria, South Korea, Taiwan, and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. The remaining regions are actively cooperating with the relevant competent authorities in their review procedures.

GlobalWafers is the world's third largest semiconductor silicon wafer fab, and Shichuang ranks fourth. After the combination of the two, the scale will surpass the current second largest Japanese manufacturer SUMCO (SUMCO) to become the world's second largest silicon wafer fab.