Chip equipment maker ASMPT ends takeover talks with potential suitor (updated)

ASMPT

11/11/2024 10:39

(Adds background about ASMPT's buyout talks)
    By Rishav Chatterjee and Kane Wu
       Nov 11 (Reuters) - Hong Kong-listed ASMPT  0522.HK , a
global provider of technology and equipment used in the
manufacture of chips, said on Monday it has ended takeover talks
with a potential suitor, without disclosing the company's
identity. 
    Last month, ASMPT said it had received a takeover bid, but
did not provide any information about the potential buyer or
financial details.
    Global investment firm KKR & Co  KKR.N  was said to have
been considering a buyout bid for ASMPT, according to a
Bloomberg News report on Oct. 2.
    ASMPT's shares rose more than 11% to a three-month high on
the day Bloomberg News first reported the news, closing about 3%
higher. However, they have since declined more than 20%.
    Two people with knowledge of the talks told Reuters in late
October that KKR had been in early talks with ASMPT and was
exploring options for the company's China operations as part of
a potential deal, as the U.S. firm was not comfortable owning
the chip equipment maker in China due to regulatory and
geopolitical risks.
    U.S. investment in China has dwindled in recent years amid
tightened regulatory scrutiny and China's economic slowdown.
    The "reverse CFIUS" regulations which scrutinise U.S.
outbound investments to "countries of concern" in specific
sectors will become effective on Jan. 2, 2025, in the latest of
a series of laws and regulations that U.S President Joe Biden's
administration has passed this year to restrict U.S. investments
in China.  
        The options KKR explored included finding a buyer for
the China operations, said the sources, who declined to be named
as the discussions were confidential.
    KKR declined to comment. ASMPT did not immediately respond
to Reuters requests for comment. 
    Netherlands-based semiconductor equipment maker ASM
International NV  ASMI.AS , which owns around a 25% stake in
ASMPT, has been urged by activist investors to sell its holding.
    Media reports had first emerged in March 2023 that Hong
Kong-headquartered alternative investment firm PAG was among the
companies that had expressed interest in taking ASMPT private. 
    ASMPT's market capitalisation as of Friday's closing stands
at HK$34.52 billion ($4.44 billion), according to LSEG data.
     
     
    ($1 = 7.7734 Hong Kong dollars)

 (Reporting by Rishav Chatterjee in Bengaluru, Kane Wu in Hong
Kong; additional reporting by Milana Vinn in New York; Editing
by Varun H K and Susan Fenton)
 ((Rishav.Chatterjee@thomsonreuters.com;))