China's Tsinghua Unigroup to Buy Stake in Taiwanese Firm
October 30 2015 - 09:00AM
Dow Jones News
BEIJING—Chinese state-owned chip maker Tsinghua Unigroup Ltd.
continued its overseas investment spree, striking a deal for a $600
million stake in Taiwan's Powertech Technology Inc.
Tsinghua Unigroup will become the Taiwanese chip packaging and
testing company's biggest shareholder, with a 25% stake after a new
share issue, the two companies said Friday.
Tsinghua Unigroup's recent deal activity reflects China's
ambitions to advance its semiconductor industry through overseas
acquisitions and domestic development. The country's chip
technology lags considerably behind that of the U.S., but Beijing
has declared semiconductors crucial for national security and
pledged billions in investment.
Powertech said investment would help it expand its assembly
capacity in Taiwan, develop advanced production processes and
recruit talent. It would also become Tsinghua Unigroup's major chip
assembly and testing partner, the company said.
Powertech's shares rose 3.5% on Friday to 72 New Taiwan dollars,
or about US$2.22. The news was released after the close of Taiwan
stock exchange trading.
After becoming China's largest chip design company through
acquisitions, Tsinghua Unigroup gained attention this year with its
attempt to buy U.S. chip maker Micron Technology Inc. for $23
billion, which would have been the largest Chinese overseas
takeover had it succeeded.
The Micron talks fell apart due to the dim prospects of U.S.
regulatory approval, according to people familiar with the
discussions, but Tsinghua Unigroup has made other overseas
investments.
At the end of September, an arm of Tsinghua Unigroup said it
would pay $3.78 billion for a 15% stake in U.S. disk drive maker
Western Digital Corp.
In October, the Chinese company hired Charles Kau, the head of
Taiwan memory chip maker Inotera Memories Inc., a joint venture
between Micron and Taiwan's Nanya Technology Corp.
Tsinghua Unigroup agreed in May to acquire a controlling 51%
stake in Hewlett-Packard Co.'s China networking unit for $2.3
billion.
Write to Eva Dou at eva.dou@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 30, 2015 08:45 ET (12:45 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC)
Historical Stock Chart
From Feb 2024 to Mar 2024
Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2023 to Mar 2024