Taiwan begins review of Chinese Tsinghua's chip stake deals in island

Powertech Technology

17/05/2016 05:05

TAIPEI, May 17 (Reuters) - Taiwanese regulators have begun 
reviewing Chinese state-backed Tsinghua Unigroup's proposals to 
buy stakes worth nearly $1 billion in two domestic semiconductor 
companies, a Taiwan government representative said on Tuesday.  
    The review and final decision on Tsinghua's partial 
acquisitions of chip testing and packaging firms Powertech 
Technology Inc  6239.TW  and ChipMOS Technologies Inc  8150.TW  
will be a test for the new government of President Tsai Ing-wen, 
which takes office on Friday. Tsai had earlier slammed the plans 
as a "huge threat" for Taiwan.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1442KB 
    "We have asked for more information, both involving basic 
and key issues," a representative of the island's Investment 
Commission, which reviews major inbound and outbound investments 
involving Taiwanese companies, told Reuters, without elaborating 
on what the issues were.   
    Tsinghua Unigroup submitted its applications about a month 
ago but the review process didn't begin until after Siliconware 
Precision Industries Co (SPIL)  2325.TW , a third Taiwanese chip 
test and packager, announced it was terminating a similar deal 
with the Chinese investor at the end of April, people familiar 
with the deals said.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N17V229 
    "It categorically kicks off the review process," said David 
W. Wang, a ChipMOS vice president.  
    Following civil war in China, Nationalist forces fled in 
1949 to Taiwan which has been self-ruled ever since. But China 
regards it as a wayward province to be taken back by force if 
necessary, fuelling fears among Taiwanese about Chinese 
influence in the island's main industries. 
    Tsinghua Unigroup did not immediately reply to an emailed 
request for comments. 
($1 = 32.6160 Taiwan dollars) 
 
 (Reporting by J.R. Wu; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman) 
 ((jr.wu@thomsonreuters.com; +886 2 2500 4881; Reuters 
Messaging: jr.wu.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: TSINGHUA UNIGROUP TAIWAN/