ASM Pacific Technology's profitability is volatile at the same time that the company is undergoing a technology transition at its back-end business. The China-based semiconductor equipment manufacturer also has low financial leverage, an established market position, and diversified products and customer base. We are assigning our 'BB+' long-term corporate credit rating and our 'cnBBB+' long-term Greater China regional scale rating to the company. The stable outlook reflects our expectation that ASM Pacific Technology will maintain its competitive position and benefit from an improving business environment over the next 12 months. We also expect the company's debt to increase because of a debt-funded acquisition. We anticipate that leverage is likely to remain low and be consistent with our assessment of an
