AEM also plans to raise S$12 million through private placement to expand operations in Taiwan and integrate into ASE’s operations
[SINGAPORE] Semiconductor manufacturing equipment manufacturer AEM has partnered with ASE Technology, one of the world’s largest semiconductor test and packaging companies, to develop a “disruptive test solution” for the artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) markets.
AEM said in a press release on Saturday (March 21) that the partnership will combine its proprietary testing technology with ASE’s manufacturing scale to serve a rapidly growing market.
As part of the partnership, AEM will raise approximately S$12 million through a private placement of 3.35 million shares at S$3.591 each into a wholly owned subsidiary of ASE. This represents approximately 1.1% of AEM’s issued share capital.
ASE, which is listed on both the New York Stock Exchange and the Taiwan Stock Exchange, will also receive 28.1 million free separable warrants in two tranches. Each tranche is associated with revenue-related terms and is convertible into one share.
The strike price for the first tranche will be set at 103% of AEM’s volume-weighted average price (VWAP). In the second tranche, the strike price will be 105% of VWAP.
AEM said that once the subscription rights are fully exercised, its current share capital will increase by approximately 8.9%.
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AEM said proceeds from this brokerage will fund its expansion in Taiwan and support the integration of test technology into ASE’s manufacturing and test operations.
The group added that the funding will also go toward product development and “joint market development initiatives” targeting AI and HPC applications.
AEM said the “strategic partnership” will also support ASE’s ISE Labs and expand the division’s capabilities in early-stage testing and validation of AI and HPC chips.
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This also includes “heterogeneous integration architectures” such as multi-chip and system-in-package designs, as well as optical connectivity used in next-generation computing.
ASE’s assembly, testing and materials portfolio will enhance these efforts and enable “the introduction of production scale as global demand continues to accelerate.”
AEM chief executive Summer Cavani said the partnership was an “important step” in the group’s strategy to “work closely with industry leaders to advance the state of the art in AI and HPC testing.”
“ASE’s forward-thinking approach and global reach make this an ideal partnership as test requirements continue to increase across advanced computing platforms,” he said.
He added that the companies are “aiming to develop and deploy next-generation test solutions that help customers improve performance, scalability, and time to market.”
Ken Hsiang, CEO of ISE Labs, also said that efforts like this are becoming increasingly important as computing architectures become more complex and time to production continues to shrink.
On Friday, before the news was announced, AEM’s share price rose 8.5% or S$0.32 to close at S$4.10.
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