Trading in HTC Suspended Amid Google Takeover Reports

Trading in shares of HTC Corp. (2498.TW) was suspended in Taiwan pending a major announcement, following reports in Taiwanese media that Google parent Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) was planning a takeover of the ailing smartphone maker.

A statement on the Taiwan Stock Exchange website said trading in HTC shares was suspended effective Thursday "pending the release of material information." Trading would resume after the announcement, the statement said.

The trading halt follows reports in Taiwanese press that Google was nearing an acquisition of at least part of HTC, which has been struggling with dwindling smartphone sales and two straight loss-making years.

At its peak, HTC controlled 9% of the global smartphone market in 2011, but that share fell to less than 1% last year, according to Counterpoint Research. Though HTC was Google's original partner in launching the search-engine company's Android operating system, it lost ground to Android-based competitors like Samsung Electronics Co. (005930.SE) and Huawei Technologies Co.

Last year HTC posted a loss of 10.6 billion new Taiwan dollars ($351 million), while revenue fell 36% to NT78.2 billion.

Write to Dan Strumpf at daniel.strumpf@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 20, 2017 11:03 ET (15:03 GMT)