Micron in talks to acquire Elpida

Tokyo Micron Technology Inc said it's in talks to buy Elpida Memory Inc, the Japanese chipmaker that filed for bankruptcy in February, adding capacity to make chips used in personal computers and smartphones.

Micron got the approval from the Tokyo District Court yesterday to negotiate to acquire Elpida's entire business, the Idaho-based company said in a statement.

Acquiring Elpida would double Micron's share of the global market for dynamic random-access memory, the most widely used chips in PCs, to about 24 per cent, helping it compete against industry leader Samsung. Elpida, which has three factories, also supplies Apple with chips used in iPhones.

Private-equity firm TPG Capital also planned a bid, a person familiar with the matter said on April 6. SK Hynix Inc, the only company that had publicly expressed interest in buying Elpida, decided not to participate in the second round of bidding, the South Korea-based company said last Friday.

Elpida, with 448 billion yen (Dh20.6 billion) of debt, sought protection from creditors after DRAM prices plummeted as they became a commodity, and as PCs gave way to mobile communication devices. Elpida was also hurt by a stronger yen, which erodes the value of its exports.