Abit is to sell its motherboard division to fellow Taiwanese mobo maker Universal Scientific Industrial (USI) for TWD350m ($11m) and 20m shares. USI is forming a subsidiary into which the Abit operation will be merged.

The deal brings USI the Abit brand along with the mobo division's intellectual property portfolio, its products, customer relationships and workers, USI said yesterday. It said it expects the merged business to ship more than 10m units a year going forward - Abit ships around 2m to 2.5m units a year, it added.

Abit admitted the "past 15 months have certainly been trying times", a reference to the company's run-ins with creditors and other woes that have seen the company's share price fall by more than 70 per cent since April 2005, according to a DigiTimes report.

And what is USI's interest in Abit's mobo division? “Motherboards are one of USI’s main product lines and we are confident that the acquisition provides an opportunity for USI to benefit from Abit’s outstanding brand image and well-developed channels in Asian, American and European markets in order to expand USI’s share in the motherboard market," said USI president C Y Wei. ®