SINGAPORE - Shares of Stats ChipPac surged as much as 17.8 per cent on Thursday amid renewed speculation that the firm might be bought over.

Trading was frenetic, with 59 million shares changing hands and eventually ending the day eight cents higher at 61.5 cents.

Talks about a takeover of the semiconductor packaging and testing services firm have been swirling around since mid-May, and pushed the stock from 33.5 cents on May 14 to 52.5 cents just three sessions later on May 19.

The firm had said then that it had received a "non-binding expression of interest" from a third party, with a view to a possible acquisition.

Trading action in its shares heated up again on June 5, when the firm announced that other potential purchasers had entered the picture. By June 11, its shares had hit a year's high of 65 cents.

Things got interesting again yesterday when a report from tech news provider Digitimes named several companies reportedly vying to buy Stats ChipPac.

These include Taiwan's Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE), Changjiang Electronics Technology, Samsung Electronics and Huatian Technology, the report said, citing unnamed industry sources.

ASE and Changjiang were the first two contenders, it added. However, since the negotiations began in May, more companies including Samsung, Huatian, the Foxconn Group, UTAC and Globalfoundries have also been named as potential buyers, the report said.