Hynix Semiconductor Inc fired its chief financial officer and 20 other top executives and its creditors replaced financial adviser Salomon Smith Barney Inc as the South Korean chipmaker struggles to survive alone.
CFO Cho Kyu-chung, restructuring chief Jeon In Baik, and the others will depart the world's third-biggest chipmaker two weeks after Hynix's board rejected a Salomon-brokered accord to sell the company to Micron Technology Inc for US$3 billion.
"The creditor banks will set up a new board of directors at some point next month," said Joshua Moon, director of Korean equities at LG Securities Ltd in Hong Kong.
The firings follow the removal or resignation of several key figures in the failed Micron negotiations, including the head of Korea Exchange Bank, his deputy and Hynix CEO Park Chong Sup, a former executive at Citigroup, Salomon's parent. Jeon led attempts to get more time to repay debt last year. The government is hoping to interest foreign buyers such as Micron and Infineon Technology AG, Finance Minister Jeon Yun Churl said today. Hynix creditors ``will continue to seek negotiations with foreign companies, be it Micron or Infineon,'' a spokesman quoted him as saying.
Korea Exchange Bank and other creditors, which are seeking to recoup US$5 billion in Hynix loans, hired Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co to seek a buyer and handle any talks. They named Deutsche Bank to formulate a plan to sell the company, said Lee Won Seok, a Korea Exchange Bank spokesman.
Salomon worked for Hynix and then its creditors for almost two years, arranging US$1 billion of loans and a US$1.25 billion share sale to foreign investors. The firm declined to comment.
Hynix shares tumbled after the June 2001 share sale, losing half their value in a month. They last traded at 840 won, down from 4,100 won at the time of the sale.
Park Sang-ho, who replaced the CEO on May 3, said he will work for six months without pay to help the company cut costs.
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