January 15, 2007 – US private equity fund The Carlyle Group has applied to Taiwan’s Investment Commission and the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) to establish a Taiwanese subsidiary that would purchase shares of packaging/testing firm ASE Inc., as a token to help gain government approval for the acquisition, according to the Taiwan Economic News.

Under the proposal, Carlyle would remit into Taiwan some NT100 billion (US $3.05 billion), the largest remittance for foreign investment projects in Taiwan so far, according to the paper. The Investment Commission will screen the proposal with a “cautious stance,” with major criteria including debt ratio of Carlyle for the project and effect of the takeover on ASE’s capital and employment, the paper noted.

The investment commission wouldn’t confirm reports by foreign investors that Carlyle may increase its buyout offer to ASE to NT$42 from NT$39.

The “Cautious screening” policy will be applied to other acquisition projects of private equity funds involving leading domestic enterprises with market value exceeding certain ratio of the domestic stock market, or ones that involve franchise lines such as telecom, media, and finance, the paper added.