Samsung Electronics drops bid to buy SanDisk

SEOUL, Oct. 22 (Yonhap) -- Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest maker of computer memory chips, said Wednesday it scrapped its bid to purchase U.S. flash memory giant SanDisk Corp. due to the current financial crisis and stalled negotiations between the parties.

"Considering the recent financial crisis and SanDisk's weak performance... (We)
announce an official withdrawal of our offer to acquire SanDisk," Samsung said in
a regulatory filing.
Samsung made a US$5.85 billion bid to take over SanDisk, which makes flash
memory chips. But the Milpitas, California-based company rebuffed Samsung's
offer last month, saying it appeared "opportunistic" and undervalued the
company.
The South Korean company also blamed SanDisk's rejection of its offer for stalled
negotiations during the past six months.
Shares of Samsung Electronics fell 0.77 percent to 515,000 won as of 9:46 a.m. on
the Seoul bourse.
In a separate statement sent to SanDisk's management earlier in the day, Samsung
said it was "disappointed" that its offer hadn't been realized, stating that it
was no longer interested in purchasing SanDisk due to the company's "uncertain
earnings prospects."
Despite the withdrawal, Samsung said it is open to possible business
opportunities with other domestic and foreign partners.
SanDisk owns a number of patents related to flash memory chips, and Samsung has
paid some $352 million annually in patent fees to the U.S. company.