Mark LaPedus
EE Times
(09/04/2007 10:49 $ EDT)

SAN JOSE, Calif. ? IC-assembly and test provider Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc. (ASE Inc.) has acquired the remaining shares of ASE Test Ltd., a chip-testing house. The estimated total acquisition value for this transaction is approximately $784 million. ASE Inc., the world's largest independent provider of IC-packaging services, had a 51 percent stake in ASE Test. The proposed acquisition ASE Test is subject to approval by a majority of ASE Test shareholders.

If the requisite shareholder approval is obtained and the other conditions precedent are met, ASE Test will become an indirect subsidiary of ASE Inc. ASE Test's shares will be delisted from Nasdaq and the Taiwan Stock Exchange.

''The proposed transaction is intended to simplify the organizational structure of ASE Inc. and its subsidiaries, reduce costs and administrative burdens,'' according to ASE (Taipei, Taiwan).

Under the terms of the proposed acquisition, the all cash acquisition consideration consists of US$14.78 for each ASE Test ordinary share listed on Nasdaq and the NT$ equivalent of $0.185.

Ironically, the Carlyle Group and others recently dropped their plans to acquire ASE Inc.