Chinese foundry Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC) has joined a consortium led by assembly and test operation Jiangsu Changjiang Electronics Technology Co. Ltd. (Jiangyin, China) that proposes to acquire the similar Singaporean company Stats ChipPAC Ltd.
Under the co-investment proposal SMIC will put in $100 million for a 19.6 percent share in a holding company that will be part of the takeover process. Other parties are JCET, which will own 51.0 percent of the holding company and National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund Co. Ltd. (IC Fund) which will own 29.4 percent.
SMIC's investment will be made through SilTech Shanghai, an indirectly wholly-owned subsidiary of the company.
However, SMIC warned in a stock exchange disclosure: "There has been no definitive or binding agreement entered into as at the date of this announcement in relation to the proposed acquisition and there is no certainty that the proposed acquisition will proceed or be completed."
The state-backed Stats ChipPAC Ltd. – a supplier of semiconductor packaging design, bump, probe, assembly, test and distribution services – has been a take-over target through 2014 as its majority owner is the Singapore state-owned Temasek Holdings (Private) Ltd. Temasek has been exiting electronics for some time and was the principal backer of foundry Chartered Semiconductor Pte. Ltd., which was acquired by Globalfoundries Inc. in 2009.
JCET is the largest provider of chip packaging services in China while Stats ChipPAC is thought to be about the fourth largest globally. The combination of the two could put JCET at the third position behind Amkor Technology Inc. and ASE Group (Taipei, Taiwan).
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