Memory chipmaker Powerchip Technology Corp (力晶科技) yesterday said it was considering selling one of its advanced 12-inch plants to repay its debts in response to a request from a creditor in the latest round of negotiations to extend a bank loan.
Powerchip was hoping to rollover NT$18.31 billion (US$602 million) in bank loans before the payment is due within a year during a series of negotiations with bank representatives that started earlier this month.
The loan is part of about NT$46 billion in bank loans currently overdue.
“It is an option [to sell the plant, P3.] We will think about it,” Powerchip spokesman Eric Tang (譚仲民) said by telephone.
“But we don’t expect to clinch any deal soon as the deal will be worth tens of billions of [New Taiwan] dollars,” he added.
POTENTIAL BUYERS
However, Tang declined to comment on whether Powerchip’s Japanese partner, Elpida Memory Inc, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) were among possible buyers for the plant, as the Chinese-language Commercial Times reported yesterday.
Media speculation raised the likelihood that Powerchip would reach agreements with creditor banks to extend the 12-month grace period, providing the chipmaker a brief respite from heavy financial pressure.
STOCKS RALLY
Powerchip shares rallied 6.67 percent to NT$1.28 yesterday, snapping five consecutive days of losses.
The P3 plant is one of Powerchip’s three 12-inch plants, with a monthly capacity of 45,000 12-inch wafers.
Powerchip said earlier this month that it planned to mass produce PC DRAM chips next quarter at its P3 plant using 30-nanometer process technology, the most advanced PC DRAM technology available.
Elpida is Powerchip’s technology source and its sole PC DRAM chip customer.
Powerchip also owns a 30 percent stake in a PC DRAM venture with Elpida, Rexchip Electronics Corp (瑞晶電子), in Greater Taichung.
As of the end of September, the chipmaker had NT$3.74 billion in cash and cash equivalents after losing NT$13.26 billion in the first nine months because of plunging chip prices, according to the company’s financial statement.
Yesterday, shares of local PC DRAM chipmaker Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) leapt 6.77 percent to NT$2.84 after the price of benchmark PC DRAM chips rebounded 0.88 percent to an average of US$0.69, based on market researcher Trendforce Corp’s (集邦科技) price information. Prices recovered as oversupply eased amid reduced output from global chipmakers.
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