Taiwan scrutinizes buyouts

Taiwan plans to take a closer look at private equity deals in which firms acquire more than 25% of a controlling stake in both publicly-traded companies and companies that need a government franchise, such as telecom carriers, banks, radio and TV companies, Taiwan Economic News reports. According to Shih Yen-shiang, vice minister of economics, the government plans to look at such factors as whether the companies would be taken private, and whether the transactions are short-term or long-term investments. In November, The Carlyle Group proposed acquiring Taiwan’s Advanced Semiconductor Engineering in a $5.46 billion transaction. www.carlyle.group