Trading in HTC shares will be halted on Thursday due to major announcement

The Taiwan Stock Exchange has announced that HTC stock trading will be suspended on Thursday as the company will release important information on that day. Google is rumored to be acquiring the company’s smartphone division.

Substantive information about the upcoming announcement is not yet available. The Taiwan Stock Exchange announces the trading freeze in a short press release. After the disclosure of the information, HTC will submit another application to resume trading. Such a trading halt indicates a major change in the company and not a product announcement.

At the beginning of September, the Taiwanese newspaper China Times announced that Google will ‘soon’ take over HTC’s smartphone branch. Google needs the expertise in designing and manufacturing smartphones, while HTC is failing to contain the losses, the paper noted. Google has been working with HTC for years. The Taiwanese manufacturer made the first Nexus phone, the Nexus One, in 2010. Last year, HTC was the partner in the manufacture of Google’s Pixel phones. Last month there were also rumors that HTC wanted to sell its Vive division. That part would be better off on its own and it would give HTC financial resources.

HTC posted a message on its website about the trading freeze on Wednesday. As usual, the Taiwanese manufacturer says it will not comment on rumors and speculation.

Update, 14:46: Evan Blass says in a number of tweets that he has seen a letter from an HTC employee. It would have announced a meeting in which, among other things, the acquisition by Google would be discussed. Google would acquire certain parts of the company related to hardware and engineers; the HTC brand name would remain with the original company.