ASMPT considers takeover bid

ASMPT has been approached by a party interested in taking the firm private, the Hong Kong-listed back-end semiconductor assembly and packaging equipment manufacturer announced today. It stresses the approach is preliminary and non-binding and isn’t guaranteed to lead to a formal offer. ASM International, which owns a 25 percent stake in ASMPT, has issued a statement to inform its shareholders about the potential takeover.

Rumors of ASMPT going private first surfaced two weeks ago, when Bloomberg reported that private-equity investor KKR is considering an offer of roughly 5 billion dollars. ASMPT’s current market capitalization is 4.9 dollars, including a stock price hike following Bloomberg’s report.

KKR’s interest in ASMPT likely stems from the back-end company’s expertise in advanced packaging, the importance of which will continue to grow as chipmakers – particularly those active in AI accelerators – cram more and more dies in the same package to squeeze more performance from silicon. ASMPT has recently received its first orders for hybrid bonders, corresponding to an upcoming advanced-packaging technique that provides the highest density of vertical connections between chips.