TSINGHUA Unigroup Ltd. plans to invest 80 billion yuan (US$12.6 billion) in a new memory chip factory via the world’s largest private placement, in the latest move by the State-backed technology conglomerate to bolster its fledgling chip industry.

    Tsinghua Unigroup, controlled by Tsinghua University in Beijing, has spearheaded a deal-making drive over the past year as it attempts to become the world’s third-biggest chipmaker.

    The cash from the share placement will also fund fresh acquisitions.

    The investment will be made via a sister firm, Shenzhen-listed Tongfang Guoxin Electronics Co., which said in a stock exchange statement that it would raise the cash in a placement of shares mostly funded by Tsinghua Unigroup and a firm controlled by the latter’s chairman, Zhao Weiguo.

    Unlisted Tsinghua Unigroup bought 36 percent of Tongfang earlier last week.

    If the deal go through, it would be the biggest ever private placement in the world, beating a previous record set by Spanish lender Banco Santander SA when it raised US$8.8 billion in January 2015.

    “Tsinghua Unigroup’s goal is to turn the new Tongfang Guoxin to a world class chip giant,” the firm’s chairman Zhao wrote in a statement, adding that Tongfang Guoxin would be an “important platform” for Tsinghua Unigroup’s chip business.

    About 60 billion yuan will be used to build a new memory chip factory, while 16.2 billion yuan will be spent on upstream and downstream acquisitions in the chip industry. The remaining 3.79 billion yuan will fund the purchase of a stake in Taiwan’s Powertech Technology.

    Over the longer-term, Tsinghua Unigroup is aiming to build an industry ecosystem that focuses on data-storage and cloud computing, a person with knowledge of the matter said.

    It is interested in making investments in areas such as chip packaging and testing, solid-state drive and chip making, the person said. (SD-Agencies)