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Micron chucks down $2.5bn lifeline to Elpida

If bid succeeds, embiggened firm will be number 2 in DRAM industry

Micron is bidding $2.5bn for worn-out and failing DRAMurai starveling Elpida after SK Hynix and Toshiba walked away.

Elpida is a bankrupt Japanese DRAM manufacturer that has fallen on hard times and is weighed down by $5.6bn debt. It has been searching for a white knight with a phased bid process. Toshiba and SK Hynix were potential bidders but have decided not to proceed.

A report in the New York Times says Elpida has elected to go with Micron after the Boise company said it would put $2.5bn into a kitty to pay off some of Elpida's debts and restructure the company. A draw for Micron, it is thought, has been Elpida's mobile RAM technology.

Micron has reportedly said no Elpida employees would lose their jobs, not initially at any rate, and two Elpida plants in Japan would stay open.

The other bidding group was composed of TPG Capital LP, a US private equity business, and Hony Capital of China. The Micron bid is by no means a done deal with much intricate jiggery-pokery needed to get most of Elpida's trustees and debt-holders to support it.

Elpida and Micron aren't officially commenting on those reports.

Micron, bulked up with Elpida, ranked number three in the DRAM industry, would pass Hynix and become the number 2 in the industry, becoming a stronger competitor to industry leader Samsung. ®

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