Reports say four investment firms are interested in acquiring the chip packaging company Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE), the world’s largest chip packaging and testing company, denied a report that said four investment firms were interested in acquiring the company after its talks with The Carlyle Group failed.“Nobody has been in contact with us about a buyout,” said Freddie Liu, a vice president at ASE.The Chinese-language Commercial Times newspaper on Thursday reported that four investment firms, Goldman Sachs & Group, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR), The Blackstone Group, and Texas Pacific Group (TPG), all were interested in buying ASE. The report did not say where it got the information. The report comes just days after Carlyle scrapped a US$5.5 billion proposal to buy ASE after the companies could not agree on a higher offering price.During discussions between Carlyle and an ASE evaluation committee set up to ensure a fair deal for shareholders, the committee asked for a higher offer because it believed the original price of NT$39 (US$1.18) per share was not enough. Carlyle countered with a slight increase, to NT$39.5 per share, but the new offer was also rejected as too low by ASE.Carlyle declined to bid any higher, opting instead to cancel the proposal. Technology Industry