SK hynix silent on Toshiba's contact with U.S., Taiwan rivals

SEOUL, July 12 (Yonhap) -- SK hynix Inc., South Korea's No. 2 tech giant, on Wednesday remained silent over reports that Japan-based Toshiba Corp. is contacting U.S. and Taiwanese firms as potential buyers of its memory division.

Japanese media earlier reported Toshiba is holding talks with U.S. Western Digital and Taiwan-based Hon Hai Precision amid the delayed negotiation with its preferred-bidder consortium that includes SK hynix.

Last month, a global consortium that included South Korea's SK hynix Inc. was tapped as the preferred negotiating partner for the sale of the memory arm of Japanese tech giant Toshiba.

"As the negotiation is under progress, we have nothing to comment on," a SK hynix official said.

SK hynix reportedly joined the consortium by only offering loans, instead of directly striving to win voting rights. The consortium included Japanese players, as well as U.S.-based Bain Capital.

Earlier this month, however, industry sources said SK hynix is seeking up to 33.4 percent of voting rights in Toshiba's chip arm. Experts said the move may have induced the Japanese government to put pressure on Toshiba to seek an alternative buyer.

Sources said Tokyo wishes to have Japanese investors take two-thirds of the shares in the memory business, with Bain Capital taking up the rest.

colin@yna.co.kr
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