Creditors to encourage new bids for Hynix

SEOUL, Jan. 7 (Yonhap) -- Creditors of Hynix Semiconductor Inc. will encourage
South Korean companies to make bids for a controlling stake in the world's
second-largest chipmaker, bank officials said Thursday.
A conference for investors is scheduled for Wednesday, aimed at promoting the
sale of a 28.07 percent stake in Hynix, according to the officials at Korea
Exchange Bank (KEB), the South Korean chipmaker's main creditor.
The stake is estimated to be worth 3.58 trillion won (US$3.04 billion).
"We have prepared this event in order to resolve the uneasiness that investors
feel about merging with or acquiring Hynix," said a KEB official familiar with
the matter.
The previous attempt to sell the stake fell through as Hyosung Group, the sole
bidder for Hynix, dropped its bid in November.
"The semiconductor industry is vital in lifting South Korea's global
competitiveness. South Korean companies should aggressively come out for
acquiring Hynix," the KEB official said.
Invitational notices for South Korean companies to submit bids went out Dec. 20.
Letters of intent to buy Hynix will be accepted by Jan. 29, KEB said. No local
company has so far shown any interest in the offer.
Meanwhile, the Dow Jones earlier this week reported that the United Arab Emirates
(UAE) government is mulling plans to buy a stake in the South Korean chipmaker.
The creditors are expected to put the stakes up for sale in parts if they fail to
sell them as a whole.
Shares of Hynix were trading at 24,950 won as of 10:15 a.m., up 1.63 percent from
the previous session. At one point in the morning session, the shares reached a
record high of 25,200 won.
Hynix was put under joint supervision by the creditors in October 2001, when it
faced a credit crunch amid a faltering business climate for the semiconductor
industry.
Starting in 2001 and up to 2002, KEB and other creditors injected US$4.6 billion
to bail out Hynix by swapping the chipmaker's debts to stocks.
Hynix ended its debt workout program in May 2005, after the company raised $1.25
billion to pay off its debt. The creditors have retained a controlling stake
since then, selling only a portion of what they held.
Net profit stood at 246.3 billion won in the July-September period last year,
compared with a 1.67 trillion won loss a year earlier. Sales rose 15 percent to
2.12 trillion won, with operating profit reaching 209.3 billion won.
DRAMeXchange, the operator of Asia's largest spot market for DRAM chips,
predicted last month that the chipmakers will continue to have a strong year in
2010 boosted by a shortage in chips.
Hynix is expected to report its fourth-quarter earnings later this month.
ygkim@yna.co.kr
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