Taiwan-based Apple supplier Catcher to sell two divisions to China’s Lens for $1.4 billion

TAIPEI/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Taiwan-based Catcher Technology <2474.TW>, a supplier to Apple Inc , has agreed to sell two units from its Lyra International division in China to Hunan-based Lens Technology Co <300433.SZ> for $1.43 billion, a company filing showed.

Headquartered in Tainan, Taiwan, Catcher makes metal casings for a range of consumer electronics, including the iPhone.

Smaller iPhone assembler Wistron <3231.TW> last month agreed to sell two of its factories in China to fast-rising Chinese manufacturer Luxshare Precision Industry Co <002475.SZ> for 3.3 billion yuan ($477 million).

Analysts have said Chinese companies are gearing up to get into the much coveted iPhone assembly chain amid a supply chain reshuffle following the China-U.S. trade war.

Taiwanese firms currently dominate the iPhone supply chain, including Foxconn <2317.TW>, the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer, Pegatron <4938.TW> and Wistron.

($1 = 6.9220 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Josh Horwitz in Shanghai and Ben Blanchard in Taipei; Editing by David Goodman and Susan Fenton)