China: Gov approves merger of Taiwan chip assemblers

SPIL, meanwhile, announced late Friday evening to sell a 30% stake in its facility in Chinese city of Suzhou to Beijing-backed chipmaker Tsinghua Unigroup. The move is viewed as a trade-off to gain the greenlight for the deal from the Chinese regulator, according to a chip industry executive familiar with the matter.

The person said Tsinghua Unigroup could seek up to at least 51% ownership in the facility later in order to have full control.

SPIL’s spokesperson told the Nikkei Asian Review that the stake sale to the Chinese company is meant to better serve the rapidly growing Chinese market and has no connection with Beijing’s approval of ASE-SPIL tie-up.

SPIL’s Suzhou plant mainly assembles and tests chips for major Chinese clients, such as Huawei’s chip unit Hisilicon Technologies and Tsinghua Unigroup’s Spreadtrum Communications.

The compromise comes at a time when China is eager to build a competitive semiconductor sector of its own with generous funding from local and central government. Beyond powering all kinds of electronic devices, chips are seen by Beijing as having national security implications.

Full Content: Taipei Times

Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.