In HSINCHU, Taiwan, shareholders of ChipMOS Technologies Inc. approved an arrangement with China's state-backed Tsinghua Unigroup.
The arrangement was to let Tsinghua Unigroup take over the Taiwanese chip test and packaging company's quarter of stakes, Reuters reported.
The Tsinghua Unigroup has already made three deals worth USD$2.6 billion, and this would mark the second in line of deals. This initiative will lead to the Chinese giant entering into Taiwan's chipset supply chain.
The approval, which was already planned by both companies for over eight years, has come on the advent of national elections, which led to the transfer of power to the China-friendly President Ma Ying-jeou of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
The plan is still on hold to win regulatory approval. Tsinghua Unigroup is planning on investing USD$354.11 million for a quarter stakes of ChipMOS Technologies. This news, according to DigiTimes, was officially confirmed by both companies in December 2015.
In an event where the ChipMOS Technologies held a simple voting on approval of the deal, the ChipMOS Technologies Chairman S.J Cheng told reporters that the proposal is now waiting to be submitted for review to the Taiwanese regulators. The proposal will be submitted sometimes after the Lunar New Year holiday in mid-February.
He also added that the Taiwanese regulators could take a couple of months to fully complete the review. Cheng said that if the review results turn out positive, then they would work towards increasing their ChipMOS production and research and development in Taiwan. An extensive expansion plan in China is also under process, he added.
Earlier in January, another Taiwanese chip test and packaging firm Powertech Technology Inc. was approved a similar partial stake sale, while Taiwanese chip firm Siliconware Precision Industries Co., a third in the row, is waiting to take its plan to a shareholder vote.
See the report about Tsinghua Unigroup buying Micron Technology: