Memorychip maker Powerchip Technology Corp (力晶科技) yesterday said it had received initial approval from creditor banks to extend NT$44.78 billion (US$1.54 billion) in syndicated loans for another five years, providing the chipmaker much-needed respite.
Creditor banks led by Hua Nan Commercial Bank (華南銀行) also agreed to hire Singapore-based Equvo Pte Co to help auction a 12-inch advanced wafer factory, named P3, in an attempt to recoup some of the money lent to Powerchip.
“Our creditor banks agreed to roll over the loan,” company spokesman Eric Tang (譚仲民) said by telephone yesterday. “Hiring Equvo will speed up the sale of the P3 wafer fab. Several companies have inquired about the plant in the past, but there has been no significant progress thus far.”
Equvo is expected to decide on the winning bids and notify the successful bidders by the end of next month, the company said.
The deadline of the electronic bidding is set for Jan. 21.
Bidders may bid for equipment, groups of assets, or for the entire fab building, including the equipment and facilities, Equvo said.
Powerchip will need to win over board directors from two-thirds of its 41 creditor banks by Jan. 18 to get the five-year grace period for the loan.
Powerchip lost NT$13.17 billion in the first nine months of this year after accumulating losses of NT$54.4 billion over the past years.
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