Taiwan chip packaging firm ASE sells 4 plants in China to Beijing PE company

MagnaChip Semiconductor

02/12/2021 04:10

TAIPEI, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Taiwanese chip testing and
packaging firm ASE Technology Holding Co Ltd  3711.TW  said late
on Wednesday it sold four facilities in China to Beijing-based
private equity company Wise Road Capital for $1.46 billion.
    ASE will see a profit of approximately $630 million from the
sale, which it will use to "strengthen Taiwan's high-end
technology R&D and production capacity", the company said in a
statement. The four facilities are located in the cities of
Kunshan, Suzhou and Weihai.
    ASE is the world's largest semiconductor-outsourced assembly
and testing company by revenue, according to market research
firm Yole. The company and its peers complete the final steps of
making chips once they come out of fabs and before they hit the
market.
    China remains behind overseas companies in the sector, along
with the rest of the chip-making supply chain.
    Wise Road Capital has emerged recently as a key broker of
deals between overseas chip companies and Chinese counterparts.
    In March, it agreed to buy South Korea's Magnachip
Semiconductor Corp  MX.N  for $1.4 billion. Magnachip, however,
said in August it had received a letter from Washington's
Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States stating it
would recommend the U.S. President block the transaction, citing
national security concerns.
    The company also sold its stake in Dutch chipmaker Nexperia
to Chinese contract manufacturer Wingtech Technology Co Ltd
 600745.SS , which later went on to purchase U.K.-based Newport
Wafer Fab.

 (Reporting by Josh Horwitz and the Taipei newsroom; Editing by
Subhranshu Sahu)
 ((Josh.Horwitz@thomsonreuters.com; +86 21 20830007;))