STATS ChipPac, Huatian end talks

SINGAPORE — STATS ChipPAC, majority-owned by Temasek Holdings, said today (Sept 1) that one of the two Chinese chip-testing companies that were considering bids for the firm has withdrawn from talks.

Shares in STATS ChipPAC had jumped by 24 per cent last week on reports that Jiangsu Changjiang Electronics Technology and Tianshui Huatian Technology were working on offers for the loss-making chipmaker.

STATS ChipPAC confirmed last Thursday that it was in preliminary talks with the two Chinese firms.

But yesterday, it said in a statement that Shenzhen-listed Tianshui Huatian had decided to terminate its approach, sending its shares plunging 7.3 per cent.

“As the company had earlier noted, there is no assurance that any of these approaches received by the company will result in any definitive agreement or transaction,” STATS ChipPAC said in a stock exchange statement today.

STATS ChipPAC, the world’s fourth-largest provider of semiconductor testing and assembly services by sales, narrowed its loss in the second quarter as sales rose.

Net loss for the second quarter ended June was US$4.2 million (S$5.24 million), compared with a net loss of US$52.2 million in the same period last year, when it had incurred US$36.5 million in plant closure costs.

Second-quarter revenue increased by 3.4 per cent on-year to US$410 million.