Siliconware Precision Industries Co (SPIL, 矽品精密) yesterday said it has terminated an agreement to sell a 25 percent stake to China’s Tsinghua Unigroup Inc (清華紫光) ahead of potential policy changes by the incoming government.
“After considering the subjective and objective factors of the company and Unigroup, the company’s board of directors resolved to terminate the private placement,” the world’s No. 3 chip tester and packager said in a statement.
The firms decided to end the agreements regarding share subscription and strategic alliance, the statement said.
Photo: CNA
“Given the current situation, it is not proper to proceed with the pact. We decided to temporarily withdraw this deal to cope with the new government’s policy [about collaboration with China],” SPIL chairman Bough Lin (林文伯) told an investors’ conference.
When asked if SPIL would continue to seek new partnerships, Lin said: “There are many possibilities.”
SPIL reached an agreement with Tsinghua Unigroup in December last year to sell 3.5 billion new common shares for NT$19.4 billion (US$601 million at current exchange rates) in a bid to fend off a takeover bid by Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (ASE, 日月光半導體).
Last month, the Fair Trade Commission did not come to a decision over ASE’s second takeover bid for SPIL because of concerns about competition.
The Investment Commission yesterday said it would begin its preliminary review of Tsinghua Unigroup’s planned investments in Powertech Technology Inc (力成) and ChipMOS Technologies Inc (南茂), given the SPIL board’s decision.
“We will still review the two applications as one case. The possibility of approving both applications is not going to be higher because of SPIL’s latest decision… It will depend on the actual review,” commission Executive Secretary Emile Chang (張銘斌) said by telephone.
Once the commission ensures that the documentation for the two applications is correct, it will send the applications to the Mainland Affairs Council, the Financial Supervisory Commission, the National Security Bureau and the Industrial Development Bureau for review, Chang said.
After collating the different agencies’ comments, the commission is to report to the legislature’s Economics Committee before holding a final review meeting to make a decision, he added.
Given the sensitivity of the issue, Chang said there was no time frame or deadline for a final decision.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from