A group led by China Resources Holdings's semiconductor business and Hua Capital Management Ltd made an offer for Fairchild Semiconductor International valuing the company at $2.46 billion, people familiar with the matter said, topping a previous offer by ON Semiconductor.

Fairchild said Tuesday it had received an unsolicited offer of $21.70 a share from a company it didn’t name. Fairchild’s board of directors said it will review and consider the proposal.

In November, ON Semiconductor agreed to buy Fairchild for $2.4 billion. The offer came a month after Fairchild said it was seeking a buyer and was in discussions with potential suitors including ON Semiconductor and Infineon Technologies AG.

China has been pursuing ambitions of creating a national champion in semiconductors. The country buys more than half the semiconductors sold each year, and its share is growing. Yet the nation doesn’t have one domestic manufacturer among the 10 biggest chipmakers, a list stacked with US companies.

Three chipmaker deals involving Chinese parties have been approved by the US committee on foreign investment since the start of October.

After President Xi Jinping’s government and US officials traded allegations of cyber espionage, China is stepping up its support of domestic chip production to lessen its dependence on foreign technology.

– (Bloomberg)