According to the Wall Street Journal, a Korean Chaebol may join forces with an Arab sovereign wealth fund to take up a 15% stake in Hynix which would give them management control of the memory company.
The Chaebol, STX, builds ships among other activities. It owns the European ship building interests formerly operated by Kvaerner, Alstom and Aker which include shipbuilding yards in Brazil Finland, Norway, France, Rumania and Vietnam.
The rationale for STX is that it wants to diversify out of shipbuilding and create a business in which 40% of revenues come from chips and 60% from shipbuilding. STX says it will use part of its $2.5bn cash pile to fund the purchase.
The Arab sovereign wealth fund is Aabar of Abu Dhabi.
Another bidder for the 15% stake is SK Telecom of Korea which says: "SK Telecom hopes to become a global company through the semiconductor business, which is expected to continue its growth onwards with the proliferation of smart phones and tablet computers and smart TVs."
SK and STX started performing due diligence on Hynix in late July with the intention of finishing in September to meet a deadline for final offers in September. According to local press reports, this may be extended to October.
At Hynix’s current share price 15% is valued at $1.5bn.
The 15% stake was acquired by a group of Korean banks in 2001 when Hynix looked on the brink of collapse. The banks have been trying to unload the stake ever since.
Hynix’s nine creditor banks have already made several attempts to sell Hynix without success.
In 2002, it was said that Micron would buy the company. Last year, the owner of Globalfoundries, ATIC of Abu Dhabi, was said to have taken an interest in acquiring Hynix but that failed to materialise.
Between these two events the creditor banks have made three attempts to hold an auction of Hynix without success. An auction in 2009 attracted only one bidder – the Korean conglomerate Hyosung.
Source: www.electronicsweekly.com
The Chaebol, STX, builds ships among other activities. It owns the European ship building interests formerly operated by Kvaerner, Alstom and Aker which include shipbuilding yards in Brazil Finland, Norway, France, Rumania and Vietnam.
The rationale for STX is that it wants to diversify out of shipbuilding and create a business in which 40% of revenues come from chips and 60% from shipbuilding. STX says it will use part of its $2.5bn cash pile to fund the purchase.
The Arab sovereign wealth fund is Aabar of Abu Dhabi.
Another bidder for the 15% stake is SK Telecom of Korea which says: "SK Telecom hopes to become a global company through the semiconductor business, which is expected to continue its growth onwards with the proliferation of smart phones and tablet computers and smart TVs."
SK and STX started performing due diligence on Hynix in late July with the intention of finishing in September to meet a deadline for final offers in September. According to local press reports, this may be extended to October.
At Hynix’s current share price 15% is valued at $1.5bn.
The 15% stake was acquired by a group of Korean banks in 2001 when Hynix looked on the brink of collapse. The banks have been trying to unload the stake ever since.
Hynix’s nine creditor banks have already made several attempts to sell Hynix without success.
In 2002, it was said that Micron would buy the company. Last year, the owner of Globalfoundries, ATIC of Abu Dhabi, was said to have taken an interest in acquiring Hynix but that failed to materialise.
Between these two events the creditor banks have made three attempts to hold an auction of Hynix without success. An auction in 2009 attracted only one bidder – the Korean conglomerate Hyosung.
Source: www.electronicsweekly.com
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