United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) confirmed yesterday that it is looking to acquire chip plants to expand its capacity, but it declined to comment on a report that it will buy a chip fab from Japan’s Fujitsu Ltd.
According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Fujitsu, which has decided to withdraw from the semiconductor manufacturing business, has reached a basic agreement with UMC to sell a chip production site in Mie Prefecture to the Taiwanese chipmaker.
The report said the Japanese company had also entered the final stage of negotiations to sell another plant, in Fukushima Prefecture, to US-based ON Semiconductor Corp.
The combined value of the two plants’ assets is estimated at ￥50 billion (US$495 million), the report said.
In response to the report, UMC said it had approached some potential sellers to purchase additional production capacity, but it would not confirm whether Fujitsu was one of them, saying it did not comment on any specific company.
UMC said its 8-inch wafer plants have been running at full capacity since the second quarter, when the global semiconductor business staged a strong rebound after inventory adjustments held back demand the previous two quarters.
The Taiwanese chipmaker said its board of directors had authorized management to seek opportunities in Asia for investing in new 8-inch or 12-inch wafer plants, to expand its operations to meet rising demand.
UMC said it was likely to acquire a stake in another semiconductor company or purchase plants to prop up its production and would make any investment public were it to be finalized.
Under the agreement between Fujitsu and UMC, the Japanese report said, the two partners would set up a ￥50 billion joint venture by the end of Fujitsu’s 2014 fiscal year ending March next year, and Fujitsu would transer the Mie plant to the new company.
UMC will initially own no more than a 30 percent stake in the joint venture. Hoping to attract more investment from other semiconductor firms, Fujitsu is planning to lower its stake in the joint venture to below 50 percent by the end of fiscal 2016.
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