Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技), the nation’s second-largest maker of computer memory chips, is in talks with Micron Technology Inc to combine two of their ventures to integrate resources, a source said yesterday.
Micron bought a 35.6 percent share of Inotera Memories Inc (華亞科技) for US$400 million in cash three months ago and now seems ready to enter serious talks about a merger with MeiYa Technology Corp (亞美科技).
SEA CHANGE
Nanya and Micron are bracing for a possible sea change in the world’s computer memory chip industry after the government said it was ready to bail out struggling computer memory chipmakers to push for consolidation as the economic slump worsens.
“They [company representatives from both firms] are talking about future cooperation. It [merging the two ventures] is one of major issues on the agenda,” the source said.
TIMETABLE
But no substantial timetable has yet been established, the source said.
In October, Nanya spokesman Pai Pei-lin (白培霖) told reporters “it would make sense to combine Inotera and MeiYa.”
During a trip to Taiwan, Micron president Mark Durcan also talked to Nanya executives about transferring next-generation technologies to make cost-effective computer memory chips, or DRAMs, at the plants of the two ventures, the source said.
INITIAL OUTPUT
MeiYa is scheduled to start operations next year with an initial output of 30,000 12-inch wafers a month using advanced technology from Micron.
In April, Nanya spun off a less advanced plant to create the first venture with Micron.
Share prices of the nation’s major DRAM makers including top player Powerchip Semiconductor Corp (力晶半導體), Nanya, Inotera and ProMOS Technologies Inc (茂德科技) jumped by nearly the 7 percent daily limit yesterday.
In contrast, the benchmark TAIEX index inched up a mere 0.07 percent.
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