NXP Semiconductors sold its share of Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation, an analog foundry based in Shanghai that fabricates chips for communications, consumer devices, and automotive applications. ASMC operates two factories in Shanghai, one for wafers measuring five or six inches, and another for eight-inch wafers.
The company sold around 420 million shares, which represented an almost 27.5% ownership of ASMC. It sold the shares for $53.7 million to Shanghai Pudong Science and Technology Investment, a Chinese venture capital and private equity firm. ASMC, which went public in 2006, trades on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
ASMC began as a joint venture in the late 1988 between the Chinese Government and Royal Philips Electronics NV , the Dutch giant that eventually spun off NXP. ASMC, originally known as Philips Semiconductor Shanghai, exclusively made chips for Philips for years. ASMC, previously Philips Semiconductor Corporation of Shanghai, is a joint venture between the Chinese government and Royal Philips Electronics
NXP Semiconductors is in the process of closing its $47 billion sale to Qualcomm. The deal cleared a key hurdle earlier this month, when Qualcomm announced that it the waiting period required under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act had expired, amounting to approval from regulators. The deal is expected to close later this year.
Qualcom's acquisition of NXP will be the biggest in the semiconductor industry's history. The acquisition will give Qualcomm instant access to a wide array of technologies outside its normal field of expertise. NXP, which is headquartered in the Netherlands, makes billions of dollars selling chips to car manufacturers and makers of industrial equipment for factory floors.
