Micron buys Elpida, foundry services for $2.5billion

"We are creating the industry leading pure play memory company," said Mark Durcan, Micron's ceo. "The transactions will help strengthen the combined companies' market position in the memory industry through increased research and development and manufacturing scale; improved access to core memory market segments; and additional wafer capacity to balance among dram, NAND and NOR memory solutions for the ultimate benefit of Micron and Elpida customers." The agreement also deals with Elpida's debts, which resulted in it filing for bankruptcy. "Micron's sponsorship of Elpida will enable stable payment of creditor claims and help to streamline approval of the reorganisation plan by the creditors and the Tokyo District Court," said Yukio Sakamoto, co trustee of Elpida. "Joining with Micron also delivers a clear advantage for Elpida's customers, suppliers and employees. The transaction ... will result in a combined organization that can best serve customers with broader memory solutions, strength and scale." In a related transaction, Micron has acquired Powerchip's 24% stake om Taiwan based dram fabricataor Rexchip Electronics for $334m. The move means Micron now holds close to 90% of Rexchip. Between them, Elpida and Rexchip can manufacture 200,000 300mm wafers a month, which represents a 50% increase in Micron's capacity.