Wise Road Capital has kicked off the sale process for its Singapore semiconductor assembly and testing portfolio, UTAC, with the assistance of Jefferies, said three sources familiar with the situation.

The private equity firm has sent out teasers to potential bidders but has yet to establish a non-binding deadline for the deal, the first source said.

The target is expected to fetch a valuation of more than USD 3bn, the first and third sources said. Its EBITDA is projected to be over USD 300m in 2025, the first source said.

Chinese bidders may be the main force looking at the deal. Some banks are trying to line up Chinese corporates and private equity firms to make a joint bid for the assets given its prodigious valuation, the third source said.

However, it’s a tricky deal to market since it carries a large debt pile of around USD 2bn, an industry source said.

This kind of asset will likely attract Chinese bidders because once an asset is under Chinese ownership, it will continue to be owned or transferred to another Chinese entity. It is unlikely a Taiwanese peer will buy it given the high debt on its balance sheet and Wise Road Capital bought it for a “very heavy valuation,” this industry source added.

Wise Road reportedly considered selling UTAC in late April 2025, according to a Bloomberg report at that time.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump’s global tariffs policy may influence UTAC’s sale but it’s too early to assess the precise impact, the first source said.

Chinese firms bought assets in Southeast Asia as part of their diversification strategy in response to the trade war during the first Trump administration. However, several deals have been paused in the industrials sector until there is clarity with regard to whether reciprocal tariffs are imposed by the US government under the current administration, the industry source said.

UTAC announced on 12 August 2020 that it had completed its sale to Wise Road. In conjunction with the transaction, the company redeemed its USD 665m 2023 bonds on 11 August 2020.

As part of the deal, UTAC’s Taiwan operations (UTC) were held by a group of shareholders, including Affinity, TPG and other minority shareholders, while the other operations were sold to Wise Road, according to the same announcement.

Incorporated in 1997, UTAC is an independent provider of assembly and test services for semiconductor chips with diversified end-use applications, including communication, consumer, computing, automotive, security, industrial and medical, according to its website.

Headquartered in Singapore, it has production facilities in Singapore, Thailand, China and Indonesia, as per its website.

Jefferies declined to comment. Wise Road Capital and UTAC did not respond to requests for comment.