The Silterra sale saga

Chip sale: Attempts by Khazanah in the past to sell Silterra faced political objections due to national interest issues.

THE ongoing sale process of Silterra Sdn Bhd, Khazanah Nasional Bhd’s chip manufacturer, has put top government officials in a quandary.

This has come about because of the late entry of a bid from Taiwan’s Foxconn for the entire equity interest in Silterra at a price higher than bids from two local parties. This means that the board of Khazanah Nasional Bhd, which include the prime minister and finance minister, has to decide between selling the wholly-owned wafer fabrication firm entirely to foreign parties or maintaining a national interest in the venture by insisting that majority ownership ought to remain in the hands of Malaysian companies.