Micron team heads to Seoul for Hynix talks
By Jack Robertson
EBN
(01/04/02, 05:29:01 PM EST)
A Micron Technology negotiating team will be in Seoul next week to try to wrap up a deal to take over a number of DRAM fabs owned by Hynix Semiconductor, likely through a joint venture operation, according to authoritative U.S. sources this week.
It wasn't clear if talks have progressed far enough to allow a preliminary agreement to be reached during the week. Hynix and Korean government and creditor officials, eager to rescue the troubled memory chip maker, have been prolific with reports that a deal with Micron will be concluded within a matter of weeks.
Micron, which has been lobbying against a Hynix bailout by the Korean government, is now preparing a case to support the takeover of that firm's DRAM fabs. That would give Micron a DRAM market share of about 40% if the U.S. firm managed to preserve Hynix' global portion.
Sources said Micron now must make the case that this won't present antitrust problems, since strong rivals, such as Samsung Electronics Co., will keep the global DRAM market highly competitive.
Micron threatened to file a complaint with the World Trade Organization last year when Hynix creditors agreed to a multi-billion dollar rescue package that included a debt-to-equity swap. That package gave Hynix some breathing space, but the company has remained heavily burdened by its massive debt load, leading to its decision to negotiate a sale or joint venture with Micron.
Reports circulated in Korea this week that Micron was offering $5 billion in stock to take over Hynix' DRAM fabs. Such a takeover would make Micron the largest DRAM supplier in the world, coming on the heels of its agreement last month to acquire Toshiba Corp.'s DRAM fab in Manassas, Va. Micron became a leading DRAM vendor in 1998 with its acquisition of Texas Instruments' memory chip operations.
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