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Technology Stocks : Micron Only Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: phbolton who wrote (53505)	1/28/2002 12:10:15 AM
From: DJBEINO	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 53903

Micron Says Last Week's Hynix Talks Reached No Deal By Ian King Seoul, Jan. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Micron Technology Inc. said talks with Hynix Semiconductor Inc. last week on a tie-up that may create the world's biggest memory chipmaker ended without agreement and no new negotiations are scheduled. The talks' breakup may mean the Boise, Idaho, chipmaker and lenders who twice bailed out Hynix last year are unable to agree on how much Micron will pay for Hynix facilities. Yonhap News and other local media reported today that Micron has offered $3.2 billion and that creditors want at least $5 billion. The talks ended in Los Angeles on Thursday. ``Officially, no agreement has been reached, and there are no further discussions scheduled at this time,'' Sean Mahoney, a spokesman for Micron Technology, said in a telephone interview. He declined to comment on price issues. Hynix, the world's third-largest maker of computer memory chips, needs investment to repay debt of 8.64 trillion won ($6.5 billion) because the price of its main product remains below the cost of production. In a bailout last October, creditors agreed to a debt-for-equity swap that will give them 36 percent of the company when the transaction is completed. The Los Angeles round of talks was the fourth so far. Hynix executives were joined at the talks on Thursday by Lee Youn Soo, vice president of leading creditor Korea Exchange Bank, said bank spokesman Lee Song Seek. The bank last year led two multibillion-dollar bailouts aimed at keeping the South Korean chipmaker alive. Some analysts say Korea Exchange Bank, Chohung Bank and other creditors should lower their demands. ``Hynix is still losing money and will need more cash,'' said Yoon Yong Chul, a banking analyst at Goldman, Sachs & Co. in Seoul. ``Micron could be the best solution for the Hynix situation.'' Hynix shares rose as much as 5.4 percent in early trade today after the Seoul Economic Daily reported that a preliminary agreement on a sale of some Hynix assets to Micron will be signed as early as next month. The shares recently traded at 2,545 won, up 2.6 percent. The Korean newspaper, citing an unidentified official close to Hynix, said Hynix's creditors will meet this week to decide whether to go ahead with a joint venture with Micron, after Hynix Chief Executive Park Chong Sup returns from the U.S. talks. The paper said another round of talks will be held in Seoul next month to agree on the extent of the sale and the price.