China semiconductors: Tsinghua Unigroup seeks white knight for massive bailout
- Unigroup requires a strategic investor with minimum total assets worth US$7.7 billion or US$3.1 billion in minimum net assets
- Potential investors need to make an upfront deposit of US$77.1 million to Unigroup’s bank account and submit their bids by September 15
Unigroup, saddled with more than 200 billion yuan (US$30.8 billion) in total liabilities, is looking for a white knight with the financial resources to help clear its debts and industry experience to continue its semiconductor and cloud computing businesses, according to the company’s statement on Tuesday on the website of the National Enterprise Bankruptcy Information Disclosure Platform.
The potential investor, or group of investors, must have 50 billion yuan in minimum total assets in the past year or possess 20 billion yuan in minimum net assets, according to the statement.
“The strategic investors should have operational capability and managerial experience in semiconductor and cloud businesses,” the group said in the statement. “They must be able to promote the development of our core businesses.”
Two or more investors can form a consortium to take part in the bid for Unigroup and the application must be submitted by September 15, the statement said. Potential investors need to make an upfront deposit of 500 million yuan to Unigroup’s bank account.
In line with this process, trading of six of Unigroup’s onshore bonds will halt from Wednesday, the group said in a separate statement on Tuesday.