Korea Hynix talks with Infineon slow - regulator
Wednesday February 6, 12:37 AM EST
SEOUL, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Talks to form an alliance between embattled Hynix Semiconductor Inc (00660) and Germany's Infineon Technologies AG (IFXGn) have made little progress, although the German chipmaker wants a deal, the chief of South Korea's top financial regulator said on Wednesday.
"Infineon wants an alliance with Hynix," Lee Keun-young, chief of the Financial Supervisory Commission, told reporters. "But negotiations have not progressed significantly to discuss an equity swap."
He was responding to local media reports that said Infineon had offered an equity-swap worth a 20 percent stake in heavily-indebted Hynix.
"I am unaware of such speculations," he said.
Hynix and Infineon are the world's third and fourth largest computer memory chipmakers.
Hynix entered into separate talks in December to sell its memory chip business to U.S. rival Micron Technology Inc (MU) but the negotiations have been slow due to a nearly $2 billion pricing differences.
Hynix's chief executive Park Chong-sup is in the United States seeking to narrow differences with Micron in the deal, that could help curb output and buoy global chip prices.
Hynix said they were placing priority to the Micron talks as they started first.
Shares in Hynix edged up 0.4 percent to 2,480 won ($1) at 0453 GMT, versus a 0.01 percent drop in the broader market (KS11).
Hynix shares had traded as high as 2,545 won earlier in the day, boosted by a newspaper report that both Micron and Infineon would make final offers for the chipmaker on Friday.
Hynix creditors, exposed to debts worth 8.64 trillion won ($6.6 billion), had been involved in the proposed deal with Micron.
($1=1306.8 won)
©2001 Reuters Limited.
money.iwon.com |
