Taiwan chip packaging firm ASE sells 4 plants in China to Beijing PE company

TAIPEI, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Taiwanese chip testing and packaging firm ASE Technology Holding Co Ltd said late on Wednesday it sold four facilities in China to Beijing-based private equity company Wise Road Capital for $1.46 billion.

ASE will see a profit of approximately $630 million from the sale, which it will use to "strengthen Taiwan's high-end technology R&D and production capacity", the company said in a statement. The four facilities are located in the cities of Kunshan, Suzhou and Weihai.

ASE is the world's largest semiconductor-outsourced assembly and testing company by revenue, according to market research firm Yole. The company and its peers complete the final steps of making chips once they come out of fabs and before they hit the market.

China remains behind overseas companies in the sector, along with the rest of the chip-making supply chain.

Wise Road Capital has emerged recently as a key broker of deals between overseas chip companies and Chinese counterparts.

In March, it agreed to buy South Korea's Magnachip Semiconductor Corp for $1.4 billion. Magnachip, however, said in August it had received a letter from Washington's Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States stating it would recommend the U.S. President block the transaction, citing national security concerns.

The company also sold its stake in Dutch chipmaker Nexperia to Chinese contract manufacturer Wingtech Technology Co Ltd , which later went on to purchase U.K.-based Newport Wafer Fab. (Reporting by Josh Horwitz and the Taipei newsroom; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)