US-based Micron Technology Inc — the world’s No. 3 DRAM chipmaker — yesterday said it plans to purchase the remaining 67 percent stake in its Taiwanese DRAM arm Inotera Memories Inc (華亞科技) in a deal worth NT$130 billion (US$3.94 billion), aimed at boosting the efficiency of its operations long term.
Micron, which holds a 33 percent stake in Inotera, is offering NT$30 per common share to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Inotera via its local unit Micron Semiconductor Taiwan Co (台灣美光).
If the deal completes, Inotera would become a wholly owned subsidiary of Micron and would be delisted from the local bourse.
The deal is expected to be completed in the second quarter of next year at the earliest, Inotera said.
“Inotera has been a partner of Micron since 2008... Inotera supplies between 30 and 40 percent of Micron’s total DRAM capacities globally. Becoming a fully owned subsidiary of Micron’s would boost the interests of the company’s shareholders and employees in the long term,” Inotera spokesman Peter Shen (沈道邦) told a news conference.
Micron’s offer of NT$30 per share represents about a 30 percent premium on Inotera’s closing price of NT$23 per share in Tapei trading yesterday.
“Consolidation between Micron and Inotera would help Micron safeguard its control of Inotera as the Taiwanese government is likely to relax restrictions on Chinese companies’ investments in local chip firms,” market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) analyst Avril Wu (吳雅婷) said in a report released yesterday. “China has showed a strong interest in expanding its semiconductor industry via government polices and the DRAM industry is one of its targets.”
Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科) — which owns a 24 percent stake in Inotera, yesterday said it would back the Inotera board’s proposal by selling its stake in Inotera to Micron for NT$47.6 billion.
The company’s board also approved a plan to spend NT$31.5 billion of the NT$47.6 billion proceeds to purchase Micron’s new share sales, Nanya Technology said.
“Becoming one of the major stakeholders in Micron would allow Nanya and Micron to collaborate over technology node development, and the partnership is a win-win situation for both companies,” Nanya Technology president Lee Pei-ing (李培瑛) said.
Nanya Technology said it has also signed a memorandum of understanding with Micron to have option rights to license next-generation DRAM technologies from the US memory chipmaker.
Nanya Technology and its parent company Formosa Group (台塑集團) hold about a 32 percent stake in Inotera.
As Nanya is scheduled to ramp up production of 20-nanometer chips in the second half of next year, the deal with Micron will help it secure next-generation technology source, TrendForce said.
“Micron and Nanya have enjoyed a strong relationship over the years, and the agreements extend our strategic relationship while also providing further value to both companies and their shareholders,” Micron chief executive Mark Durcan said.
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