The Investment Commission may not complete its review of Tsinghua Unigroup Ltd’s (清華紫光) planned investments in two Taiwanese chip testers and packagers before the end of this year, a source said yesterday.
“The commission is not allowed to start to review the cases without lawmakers’ approval,” a high-ranking commission official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told the Taipei Times by telephone.
The Chinese company in April filed applications to the commission on its planned acquisition of a 25 percent stake in Powertech Technology Inc (力成) for NT$11.9 billion (US$379 million) and a 25 percent stake in ChipMOS Technologies Inc (南茂) for NT$19.4 billion.
However, the Legislative Yuan’s Economics Committee in January passed a resolution demanding the commission report to the legislature before it examines Tsinghua Unigroup’s applications because of concerns the deals could undermine Taiwan’s technology industry.
“If the lawmakers do not summon the commission to report at the Legislative Yuan, there is no way we could begin the examination,” the official said, adding that lawmaker do not seem to have plans to do so.
The commission on Tuesday suspended its review on Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia IV’s planned investment in China Network Systems Co (CNS, 中嘉網路), saying it would not resume the process until the National Communications Committee re-examines the proposed deal, following concerns raised by several lawmakers.
The official denied that lawmakers have overridden the commission’s administrative rights.
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