From Chosun Ilbo: Micron, Infineon Battle for Hynix's Chip Operations
Hynix Semiconductor is weighing whether to sell off the assets of its memory chip operations to Micron Technology of the United States or Infineon Technologies of Germany, the world's two largest chipmakers.
Hynix's president Park Jong-seok is leading the way in the firm's final round of negotiations, which have reached their fourth day now, with the US chipmaker. Meanwhile, Infineon dispatched a 10-man negotiation team to Korea Wednesday and the two companies have entered into a series of talks.
One high-ranking official of Hynix's creditor group said Hynix and Micron have succeeded in narrowing their differences over the proposed price for Micron's acquisition of Hynix's assets. The official said that the middle line of the price is estimated at US$4 billion. However, the two companies have not been able to iron out differences over the demands by Micron for an additional financial support package for the Korean chipmaker, he said.
Among its conditions, Micron requested that 50 percent of Hynix's outstanding debts be written off and a new fund totaling W1.5 trillion be added to the deal.
Back in 1998, Micron had taken over Texas Instrument, and at that time, the chipmaker paid for the asset acquisition in its shares. In return, Texas Instrument injected a total of US$750 million in new facility investments into the firm.
The Hynix official said the two sides' stances will become more clear by the end of this week.
Commenting on Infineon's proposal to Hynix, another creditor official said the German chipmaker's negotiation stance seems a lot more flexible than the US firm's. The official said that Hynix and Infineon will first discuss ways to set up the structure for their proposed strategic alliance deal.
He also said that the German company is expected to launch due diligence on Hynix's plants if needed.
(Cho Hyung-rai, hrcho@chosun.com)
(from DRAM Exchange) |
