UMC rumored to acquire shares of Princeton Technology

Taipei, April 18, 2003 (CENS)--United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC) has shares in Princeton Technology Corp. (PTC), an integrated circuit design house, to enhance its customer relations, according to an unconfirmed report.

UMC executives have not responded to the report, saying that no information can be divulged ahead of a company presentation for institutional investors on April 30.

The investment in PTC would mark UMC's third alliance with IC design firms. It recently acquired Silicon Integrated Systems and invested in Silicon 7 Corp., a South Korean designer of embedded memory chips for cell phones.

Founded in 1986, PTC has emerged as one of the leaders in Taiwan's consumer IC design sector. The company currently provides chips for security and automation, remote control, fan control, multimedia audio, electrical home appliances and other consumer-oriented applications, as well as custom-designed Ics.

Over the past few days, PTC's share price has fallen due to disputes among company executive. Recently one of PTC's directors quit his position. PTC president C.A. Chiang has sought the support of UMC president John Hsuan to enhance cooperation between the two companies.

Chiang said that approximately 40% of PTC's products are produced by UMC on an original equipment manufacturer basis.

Chiang estimated that his company will post revenue in excess of NT$600 million (US$17.24 million at US$1:NT$34.7) in the second quarter of this year, up 30% from NT$470 million (US$13.54 million) in the previous quarter. He attributed the surge to strong sales growth in mainland China. The company registered revenue of NT$180 million (US$5.18 million) from its mainland operations in March alone.