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| ▲ The corporate logo of South Korean chipmaker SK hynix Inc. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ This file photo provided by SK hynix Inc. on Feb. 1, 2021, shows the company's M16 fab in Icheon, south of Seoul. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
(2nd LD) SK hynix-Intel
(2nd LD) SK hynix gets China's approval for Intel NAND biz takeover
(ATTN: UPDATES with more details in last 5 paras; ADDS photo)
SEOUL, Dec. 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korean chipmaker SK hynix Inc. said Wednesday it has received approval from Chinese authorities for its takeover of Intel Corp.'s NAND memory chip business, clearing the final hurdle for the merger process.
SK hynix received "merger clearance from the Chinese antitrust authority, State Administration for Market Regulation, for its acquisition of Intel NAND and SSD business," it said in a statement.
With the latest approval, the South Korean chipmaker has received all required approvals from eight jurisdictions from the relevant competition authorities.
"SK hynix will enhance its competitiveness of NAND Flash and SSD business by continuing the remaining post-merger integration process," the company said.
In October last year, South Korea's No. 2 memory chip maker signed a deal to buy Intel's non-volatile business for US$9 billion, which includes the U.S. firm's solid state drive business and a NAND flash chip plant in Dalian, China.
Following the deal, the company obtained approvals from antitrust regulators in South Korea, the United States, the European Union, Taiwan, Brazil, Britain and Singapore, up until July.
In the meantime, concerns were rising over a possibility that the deal could fall victim to the on-going tech rivalry between the U.S. and China, which cast a pall over the chipmaker's plan to upgrade its Chinese factory with advanced chipmaking machines.
The U.S. has opposed bringing such high-tech equipment into China, saying it could end up being used to bolster China's military capabilities.
SK hynix, however, said the company does not have an immediate plan to install the equipment in question -- Dutch firm ASML's extreme ultraviolet lithography machines -- in its factory in Wuxi, China.
The company is the world's second-largest memory chip maker with a market share of 27.2 percent in the third quarter behind the dominant player Samsung Electronics, according to analyst firm TrendForce.
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