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Chipmaker Elpida asks Intel to invest
TOKYO, Japan -- Tokyo-based Elpida Memory Inc. said Monday that its owners, Hitachi Ltd. and NEC Corp., have asked Intel Corp. to invest in the chipmaking joint venture. The investment will fund Elpida's new chip plant, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported, stating Elpida will also look for other overseas investors. An Elpida spokesman confirmed the move to Reuters news agency, saying the companies expect to reach a deal by the end of this business year, which runs through March. But the spokesman declined to say how much Intel, the world's largest chipmaker, was likely to invest. According to the Yomiuri, NEC and Hitachi will retain at least 51 percent of Elpida. New plant due this monthNEC and Hitachi set up Elpida as a 50-50 joint venture in April 2000, with 78 billion yen in capital. It specializes in dynamic random access memory, or DRAM chips. The investment is intended to help boost Elpida to the No. 3 DRAM maker in the world, behind No. 1 Samsung Electronics of South Korea and No. 2 Micron Technology of the United States. Elpida has set a target of hitting profitability by this December. But it needs another 80 billion yen in financing to boost its capacity and cut costs at a new plant. Its new 300-millimeter DRAM wafer plant is due to start production in Hiroshima later this month. Stock in Hitachi is up 4.62 percent on Monday morning, at 476 yen, while NEC is ahead 1.58 percent to 451, in line with the Nikkei's 1.57 percent rise.
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