Inotera Memories Inc (華亞科技) yesterday said that the US’ Micron Technology would fully subscribe to its NT$5 billion (US$169 million), 736 million common-share offering, the latest effort by the lossmaking Taiwanese DRAM manufacturer to improve its financial structure.
The deal will boost Micron’s holding to 40 percent from the current 30 percent, allowing the US memory chipmaker to surpass Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) to become Inotera’s biggest shareholder.
Nanya, the nation’s top DRAM chipmaker, will hold a 26 percent stake in Inotera following the transaction.
The price was set at NT$6.55, representing an 11 percent discount to Inotera’s closing price of NT$7.40 yesterday. The transaction will be made via private placement by Micron subsidiary Numonyx Holding.
“The share sale will help lift the company’s net value and improve the company’s financial structure,” Inotera said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. “Micron will receive more 30-nanometer [nm] capacity, which will help boost Inotera’s profits, as its shareholding will change, without a board shakeup.”
Taoyuan-based Inotera is also in talks with banks for a new syndicated loan of NT$10 billion, company president Charles Kau (高啟全) told reporters.
Kau said business was on the rebound, with factory utilization recovering to 90 percent, thanks to improving demand.
Inotera lost NT$21 billion last year as low demand cut prices. The stock’s net value fell to NT$7 a share at the end of last year, from NT$11.5 a share a year ago.
Inotera plans to spend NT$4 billion on its upgrade to 30nm process technology and will increase its spending later in line with its technology migration. Last year, the chipmaker budgeted NT$11.6 billion for technology migration.
The US dollar was trading at NT$29.7 at 10am today on the Taipei Foreign Exchange, as the New Taiwan dollar gained NT$1.364 from the previous close last week. The NT dollar continued to rise today, after surging 3.07 percent on Friday. After opening at NT$30.91, the NT dollar gained more than NT$1 in just 15 minutes, briefly passing the NT$30 mark. Before the US Department of the Treasury's semi-annual currency report came out, expectations that the NT dollar would keep rising were already building. The NT dollar on Friday closed at NT$31.064, up by NT$0.953 — a 3.07 percent single-day gain. Today,
‘SHORT TERM’: The local currency would likely remain strong in the near term, driven by anticipated US trade pressure, capital inflows and expectations of a US Fed rate cut The US dollar is expected to fall below NT$30 in the near term, as traders anticipate increased pressure from Washington for Taiwan to allow the New Taiwan dollar to appreciate, Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) chief economist Lin Chi-chao (林啟超) said. Following a sharp drop in the greenback against the NT dollar on Friday, Lin told the Central News Agency that the local currency is likely to remain strong in the short term, driven in part by market psychology surrounding anticipated US policy pressure. On Friday, the US dollar fell NT$0.953, or 3.07 percent, closing at NT$31.064 — its lowest level since Jan.
The New Taiwan dollar and Taiwanese stocks surged on signs that trade tensions between the world’s top two economies might start easing and as US tech earnings boosted the outlook of the nation’s semiconductor exports. The NT dollar strengthened as much as 3.8 percent versus the US dollar to 30.815, the biggest intraday gain since January 2011, closing at NT$31.064. The benchmark TAIEX jumped 2.73 percent to outperform the region’s equity gauges. Outlook for global trade improved after China said it is assessing possible trade talks with the US, providing a boost for the nation’s currency and shares. As the NT dollar
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday met with some of the nation’s largest insurance companies as a skyrocketing New Taiwan dollar piles pressure on their hundreds of billions of dollars in US bond investments. The commission has asked some life insurance firms, among the biggest Asian holders of US debt, to discuss how the rapidly strengthening NT dollar has impacted their operations, people familiar with the matter said. The meeting took place as the NT dollar jumped as much as 5 percent yesterday, its biggest intraday gain in more than three decades. The local currency surged as exporters rushed to
RSS