[Digital Times, Park Seul-gee] The Korea-US-Japan Alliance with SK Hynix has been selected as the preferred bidder in the sale bid for Toshiba memory. It is an analysis that Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Corp. (photo), resolved the problem of technology leakage and that the employment retention card helped persuade the Japanese government and public opinion. Especially, it is the industry`s opinion that the combined tactics of Korea, the United States, and Japan have been taken.

According to the semiconductor industry and foreign media on June 21, Toshiba will sell its semiconductor subsidiary, Toshiba Memory, to the Korea-US Alliance formed by Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ), US investment fund Vain Capital, and SK Hynix. Toshiba is expected to sign a deal with the Korea-US Alliance at a general shareholders` meeting on June 28.

Broadcom, the biggest buyer of US, said it would offer JPY 2.2 trillion, the largest acquisition of the company. However, as the Japanese people`s funds joined the Korea-US alliance at the last minute, it was analyzed that the board was dramatically reversed.

It is the industry analysis that Chey Tae-won, the CEO of SK Corp., has been successful in his strategy. The Korea-US Alliance has proposed a `MBO (MBO)` scheme that will allow Toshiba to acquire a 51% stake in Toshiba Memory by establishing a SPC. It was reported by Chey to turn the minds of the Japanese government and Toshiba executives, who concern that core semiconductor technology will leak out of the country. It is also known that Chey emphasized employment and maintenance of local investment in meeting with Toshiba executives.

SK Hynix has taken the opportunity to boost its technological capabilities in the fast-growing NAND Flash business as the Korea - US Alliance won this acquisition. It is expected to generate synergy with R & D collaboration with Toshiba, which has the original technology of NAND flash as SK Hynix focuses on 3D NAND flash for future growth.

It is the experts` observation that SK will only aiming at the second place in the global NAND flash market from a long-term viewpoint. According to market researcher IHS Markit, Samsung Electronics ranked first with 36.7% of NAND flash market share in the first quarter and followed by Toshiba with 17.2 percent, Western Digital with 15.5 percent and SK Hynix with 11.4 percent. Once SK Hynix brings Toshiba`s NAND share of more than 4.1 percent, it can beat Western Digital and jump to second place.

It is also expected that Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix will form the two major mountain ranges in the memory semiconductor market such as DRAM and NAND. A semiconductor industry expert said, "Even if the Korea-US Alliance acquires Toshiba memory, SK Hynix will not be able to increase its market share in the NAND flash market in the short term. But it is clear that SK Hynix`s NAND technology will be strengthened. "

By Park Seul Gee seul@


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