State-backed investors push Alibaba out of Unigroup deal

A consortium led by state-backed Beijing Jianguang Asset Management and Wise Road Capital will take a large stake in Chinese chipmaking group Tsinghua Unigroup, becoming a strategic investor and pushing Alibaba out of contention for the shares, reports Reuters. The agreement, which is awaiting court approval, winds down a long-lasting restructuring process for the struggling Tsinghua Unigroup, which was once touted to be China’s chip king but later found itself saddled with debt.

It is also a blow for Alibaba Group Holding, which was competing with the state-backed companies to purchase the chip group in order to bolster its fledgling chip division.

The size of the investment was not disclosed by Unigroup which was originally 51% owned by China’s prestigious Tsinghua university and led by former real estate magnate Zhao Weiguo. Under Zhao, Unigroup invested aggressively in various chip companies, in tandem with a government push to boost China’s semiconductor industry.