Tsinghua Unigroup Ltd. will buy a NT$56.8 billion ($1.7 billion) stake in Siliconware Precision Industry Co., helping the Taiwanese chip tester fend off a hostile bid from a larger rival.

Tsinghua Unigroup will buy 1.033 billion shares at NT$55 apiece of SPIL, according to a statement distributed by Siliconware at a briefing in Taipei on Friday. That will give it a 24.9 percent stake and the deal is expected to close in June.

If approved, the investment would mark the start of a possible wave of Chinese investment in Taiwan’s chip industry amid global consolidation and an advancement of the country’s semiconductor goals. SPIL this year has already failed in its attempt to fend off Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc.’s unsolicited bid for a 25 percent stake, while a subsequent offer from Foxconn Technology Group failed at a shareholder vote in October.