The Investment Commission yesterday said Integrated Silicon Solution Inc’s (ISSI, 矽成) Taiwanese branch can no longer operate IC design-related business in Taiwan because its investor identity will be changed from a US firm to a Chinese company.
“As the US company is to be fully acquired by China’s Uphill [Investment Co, 五岳峰創投], the fabless semiconductor company can only purchase or sell chips in Taiwan, without tapping into IC design business here,” Investment Commission Executive Secretary Emile Chang (張銘斌) said by telephone.
Chang’s remarks came after the commission yesterday approved ISSI’s application to change its investor identity for its Taiwanese branch from a foreign investor to a Chinese investor.
Under national regulations, Chinese investors are not allowed to invest in Taiwan’s IC design industry.
Shareholders of ISSI in June approved the acquisition of the company by Uphill for US$23 per share in cash to the merger agreement between the two firms.
According to data compiled by Bloomberg, the bid values ISSI at more than US$731 million, based on the firm’s 31.8 million outstanding shares.
ISSI in August sold its IC design Taiwanese subsidiary Chingis Technology Corp (常憶科技) for US$27 million to MediaTek Capital Corp (翔發投資) — a subsidiary of Taiwan’s leading IC design company, MediaTek Corp (聯發科).
The deal with Mediatek includes Chingis’ IC design business, assets and IC designers, the Investment Commission said.
The transaction with MediaTek Capital was a key of the restructuring of ISSI’s operations in Taiwan for meeting the nation’s investment regulations, the US company said.
After receiving approval from Taiwanese and Chinese authorities, the targeted closing time of the Uphill acquisition is Dec. 10, the US company said in a statement released on Friday.
Although Taiwan forbids Chinese investment in the nation’s IC design industry, the Ministry of Economic Affairs has been discussing the possibility of lifting the ban, ministry officials said.
Minister of Economic Affairs John Deng (鄧振中) was quoted by the Financial Times newspaper as saying that he would like to ease the Chinese investment ban before his term ends in May.
Commenting on Deng’s remarks, Chang said the ministry’s Industrial Development Bureau has started evaluating lifting the ban, adding that once the bureau completes the evaluation report, the commission would transfer the report to relevant government agencies for further deliberation.
If the government agencies agree on easing the Chinese investment restriction on the local IC design sector, then the ministry would send a proposal to the Executive Yuan for final approval, Chang said.
“It could take a long or a short time to finish such evaluation,” Chang said, declining to confirm whether the ban will be lifted before May next year.
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