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Joint
Press Release
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September 4,
2007
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ASE
INC AND
ASE TEST ENTER INTO AGREEMENT TO TAKE ASE TEST PRIVATE
September
4, 2007 –
Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, Inc. (“ASE Inc.”) and ASE Test Limited (“ASE
Test”), a majority-owned subsidiary of ASE Inc., today jointly announced that
the two companies have signed the Scheme Implementation Agreement for
ASE Inc.
to acquire the remaining ASE Test ordinary shares which ASE Inc. does
not
directly or indirectly own. ASE Test’s ordinary shares are listed on
The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. (“Nasdaq”) and, in the form of Taiwan Depositary
Shares (“TDSs”), on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (where each TDS represents 1/80
ASE Test ordinary shares). Under the terms of the proposed
acquisition, the all cash acquisition consideration consists of US$14.78
for
each ASE Test ordinary share listed on Nasdaq and the NT$ equivalent
of US$0.185
(based on the prevailing exchange rate) for each ASE Test TDS. The
proposed acquisition will be effected by way of a scheme of arrangement
under
Section 210 of the Companies Act of
Singapore ("Singapore Companies Act"). The proposed
acquisition is subject to approval by a majority of ASE Test shareholders
(other
than ASE Inc. and its affiliates, including without limitation its directors
and
managers)(“Unaffiliated Shareholders”) holding at least 75% in value of the
total outstanding ASE Test ordinary shares held by Unaffiliated Shareholders,
present and voting either in person or by proxy at a meeting of Unaffiliated
Shareholders to be convened in a court proceeding in Singapore in accordance
with the Singapore Companies Act. The proposed acquisition is also
subject to certain other conditions precedent, including customary approvals
and
filings in Singapore, Taiwan and the United States. If the requisite
shareholder
approval is obtained and the other conditions precedent are met, upon
the
consummation of the proposed transaction, ASE Test will become an indirect
wholly-owned subsidiary of ASE Inc. and the ASE Test ordinary shares
will be
delisted from Nasdaq and the TDSs will be delisted from the Taiwan Stock
Exchange. The
proposed acquisition
is
priced at a premium of 25.6% above ASE Test's closing price on Nasdaq
as of
August 31, 2007.
Holders
of ASE Test options will
be separately informed regarding the treatment of their options in the
proposed
transaction. The estimated total acquisition value for this
transaction is approximately US$784,000,000.
The
proposed
transaction is intended to simplify the organizational structure of ASE
Inc. and
its subsidiaries (the “ASE Group”), reduce costs and administrative burdens
associated with filing
and
compliance
requirements relating to ASE Test’s Nasdaq and Taiwan Stock Exchange listings
and United States public company reporting obligations, enhance recognition
by
customers and investors by promoting a single common brand for the ASE
Group,
and increase ASE Inc.’s flexibility to make investments and allocate resources
within the ASE Group.
ASE
Test reached
agreement with ASE Inc. on the terms of the proposed acquisition following
an
evaluation by a special committee of the board of directors of ASE Test,
comprising of two of ASE Test’s independent directors, that was established to,
among other things, review, evaluate, negotiate and consider all matters
which
may arise in connection with the proposed acquisition.
ASE
Inc. engaged
Citigroup Global Markets Taiwan Ltd. (“Citi”) as its financial advisor for the
transaction, and the ASE Test special committee engaged Lehman Brothers
Inc.
(“Lehman Brothers”) to act as its financial advisor. If the requisite
shareholder approval is obtained and the other conditions precedent are
met, the
proposed transaction is expected to be consummated by December
2007.
About
ASE
Inc.
ASE
Inc. is one of the world's
largest independent
provider of integrated circuit (“IC”)
packaging services and, together with
its approximately 51% owned subsidiary ASE Test Limited (NASDAQ:
ASTSF), the world's largest
independent provider of IC testing services, including front-end
engineering test, wafer
probe and final test services. ASE Inc. currently
has approximately
more than 200 international customers. With advanced technological
capabilities
and a global presence spanning Taiwan,
Korea,
Japan,
Singapore,
Malaysia
and the United States, ASE Inc.
has established a
reputation for reliable, high quality products and services. For more
information, visit our website at
http://www.aseglobal.com.
The
common shares of ASE Inc. are listed
on the Taiwan Stock Exchange under the symbol “2311”. The
American Depository
Receipts
of
ASE Inc. are listed on the New York
Stock Exchange under the
symbol “ASX”.
About
ASE
Test
ASE
Test is one of the
world’s
largest independent
providers
of semiconductor testing
services. It
provides
customers with a complete range
of semiconductor testing
services, including front-end engineering test, wafer probe, final test
and other test-related
services.
The
ordinary shares of ASE Test are
quoted for trading on the NASDAQ
National Market under the symbol
“ASTSF”. ASE
Test’s
TDSs which represent its ordinary
shares, are listed for trading on the Taiwan Stock Exchange under the
symbol
“9101”.
The
directors of ASE Inc. (including any
director who may have delegated detailed supervision of this press release)
have
taken all reasonable
care
to ensure that the facts stated and opinions expressed in this press
release
(other than those relating to ASE Test) are fair or accurate and that
no
material facts have been omitted from this press release and they jointly
and
severally
accept responsibility accordingly.
Where
any information has been extracted
from published or publicly available sources or obtained from ASE Test,
the sole
responsibility of the directors of ASE Inc. has been to ensure, through
reasonable enquiries, that
such information is accurately extracted from such sources or, as the
case may
be, reflected or reproduced in this press release.
The
directors of ASE Test.
(including any director who may have
delegated detailed supervision of this press release) have taken all reasonable
care to ensure
that the facts stated and opinions expressed in this press release (other
than
those relating to ASE
Inc.) are fair or accurate
and that no material facts have been omitted from this press release
and they
jointly and severally
accept responsibility accordingly.
Where any information has been
extracted from published or publicly available sources or obtained from
ASE
Inc.,
the sole responsibility of the
directors of ASE Test
has been to ensure, through reasonable
enquiries, that such
information is accurately extracted from such sources or, as the case
may be,
reflected or reproduced in this press release.
Forward-Looking
Statements
All
statements
other than statements of historical facts included in this press release
are or
may be forward looking statements. Forward-looking statements include
but are
not limited to those using words such as "seek", "expect", "anticipate",
"estimate", "believe", "intend", "project", "plan", "strategy", "forecast"
and
similar expressions or future or conditional verbs such as "will", "would",
"should", "could", "may" and "might". These statements reflect ASE Inc.'s
or ASE
Test's (as the case may be) current expectations, beliefs, hopes, intentions
or
strategies regarding the future and assumptions in light of currently
available
information. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future
performance or events and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties.
Accordingly, actual results may differ materially from those described
in such
forward-looking statements. Shareholders and investors should not place
undue
reliance
on such
forward-looking statements, and ASE Inc., ASE Test, Citi and Lehman Brothers
undertake no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking
statements.
For
further
information please contact:
ASE
Inc.
Citigroup
Global
Markets Taiwan Ltd.
Tel:
+852-2501-2035
Freddie
Liu (Vice
President)
Tel:
+8862-8780-5489
ASE
Test
Lehman
Brothers
Inc.
Tel:
+852-2252-1047
Ken
Hsiang (CFO)
Tel:
+1-510-687-2475
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