Taiwanese semiconductor foundry UMC (United
Microelectronics Corp) announced on April 29 that its board has approved the
acquisition of a Chinese eight-inch chip foundry HeJian Technology, Taiwan's
Central News Agency reported. Established in Suzhou in 2001, HeJian currently
has a monthly manufacturing capacity of 41,000 wafers. UMC already owns a 15%
stake, which has been held in trust, in HeJian, and UMC plans to spend up to
US$285 million on purchasing the remaining 85% stake, making HeJian a wholly-owned
unit of UMC.
The UMC-HeJian deal, however, is expected to
encounter difficulties with the Taiwanese government, as so far Taiwan has
allowed only three companies - TSMC, Powerchip, and ProMOS - to set up
eight-inch semiconductor foundry operations in China, also according to Central
News Agency. Taiwan's MOEA (Ministry of Economic Affairs) Minister Yin Chi-ming
said that the UMC-HeJian deal will be taken into account when the MOEA decides
on policies regulating Chinese enterprises' investments in Taiwan by year-end
2009.