China Chipmaker’s Buyer Missed $9 Billion Payment Deadline

(Bloomberg) — The winner of a bidding process for Tsinghua Unigroup Co. has missed its March 31 deadline to complete a 60 billion yuan ($9.4 billion) takeover payment, according to people familiar with the matter.

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A consortium led by JAC Capital has yet to pay the remaining 14.6 billion yuan of the agreed price tag for the chip business, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private. The group was picked as the winner of an auction for China’s debt-ridden semiconductor giant, whose rescue was viewed as a national security issue.

The acquirer could still receive an extension to the deadline, the people said. Representatives for JAC Capital and Unigroup didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment by email and phone.

The Beijing-based company affiliated with prestigious Tsinghua University — Xi Jinping’s alma mater — remains a linchpin in a race for technological supremacy. JAC, a state-backed semiconductor investment fund, defeated a rival consortium led by Chinese e-commerce leader Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. JAC and affiliate Wise Road Capital had offered 60 billion yuan to pay off debts to creditors.

Any agreement would likely have included conditions for restructuring Unigroup’s onshore and offshore debt, Bloomberg News reported in November. The reorganization plan was approved by a court in January, according to an exchange filing.

Apple Inc. is testing sample NAND flash memory chips made by Unigroup’s prized Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. unit and is in discussions about a tie-up, Bloomberg News reported Thursday.