Powerchip Semiconductor Corp (力晶半導體), the nation’s biggest memory-chip maker, is seeking to revise terms on US$157.9 million of debt a week after smaller rival ProMOS Technologies Inc (茂德科技) won acceptance to buy back debt at a discount.
Powerchip plans to meet holders of the zero-coupon convertible bonds, which are due in June, in Hong Kong on April 16 “for a discussion with respect to alternatives available to the issuer to obtain greater financial flexibility under the bonds,” the Hsinchu-based company said in a statement on Wednesday.
The chipmaker joins ProMOS in seeking more favorable terms on existing debt as the industry experiences its worst decline.
ProMOS will pay US$0.25 on the dollar for its bonds after successfully revising the terms, while the Powerchip bonds were quoted at US$0.57 on the dollar yesterday, Mizuho Financial Group Inc prices on Bloomberg show.
Powerchip, which posted six straight quarters of losses through to September, raised US$158.1 million selling the notes in 2004, allowing investors to convert the bonds into its shares at NT$20.17 each, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The bonds were quoted at US$0.77 per dollar at the end of February, data show.
Powerchip had NT$16 billion (US$481 million) in cash and NT$15 billion in accounts payable at the end of the third quarter when it posted a NT$15 billion loss.
The company is expected to report a deficit of NT$13 billion for the fourth quarter and NT$12 billion in the first, according to the median of eight analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Powerchip spokesman Eric Tang said the proposed meeting in Hong Kong is to share information, declining to comment further on the matter. Citigroup Inc is financial adviser to Powerchip and Bank of New York Mellon Corp is trustee for the bondholders, said the statement, which was released through the Luxembourg stock exchange.
COMPETITION: AMD, Intel and Qualcomm are unveiling new laptop and desktop parts in Las Vegas, arguing their technologies provide the best performance for AI workloads Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD), the second-biggest maker of computer processors, said its chips are to be used by Dell Technologies Inc for the first time in PCs sold to businesses. The chipmaker unveiled new processors it says would make AMD-based PCs the best at running artificial intelligence (AI) software. Dell has decided to use the chips in some of its computers aimed at business customers, AMD executives said at CES in Las Vegas on Monday. Dell’s embrace of AMD for corporate PCs — it already uses the chipmaker for consumer devices — is another blow for Intel Corp as the company
ADVANCED: Previously, Taiwanese chip companies were restricted from building overseas fabs with technology less than two generations behind domestic factories Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), a major chip supplier to Nvidia Corp, would no longer be restricted from investing in next-generation 2-nanometer chip production in the US, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. However, the ministry added that the world’s biggest contract chipmaker would not be making any reckless decisions, given the weight of its up to US$30 billion investment. To safeguard Taiwan’s chip technology advantages, the government has barred local chipmakers from making chips using more advanced technologies at their overseas factories, in China particularly. Chipmakers were previously only allowed to produce chips using less advanced technologies, specifically
MediaTek Inc (聯發科) yesterday said it is teaming up with Nvidia Corp to develop a new chip for artificial intelligence (AI) supercomputers that uses architecture licensed from Arm Holdings PLC. The new product is targeting AI researchers, data scientists and students rather than the mass PC market, the company said. The announcement comes as MediaTek makes efforts to add AI capabilities to its Dimensity chips for smartphones and tablets, Genio family for the Internet of Things devices, Pentonic series of smart TVs, Kompanio line of Arm-based Chromebooks, along with the Dimensity auto platform for vehicles. MeidaTek, the world’s largest chip designer for smartphones
TECH PULL: Electronics heavyweights also attracted strong buying ahead of the CES, analysts said. Meanwhile, Asian markets were mixed amid Trump’s incoming presidency Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) shares yesterday closed at a new high in the wake of a rally among tech stocks on Wall Street on Friday, moving the TAIEX sharply higher by more than 600 points. TSMC, the most heavily weighted stock in the TAIEX, rose 4.65 percent to close at a new high of NT$1,125, boosting its market value to NT$29.17 trillion (US$888 billion) and contributing about 400 points to the TAIEX’s rise. The TAIEX ended up 639.41 points, or 2.79 percent, at 23,547.71. Turnover totaled NT$406.478 billion, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. The surge in TSMC follows a positive performance
RSS