SK Hynix will acquire Intel’s NAND memory and storage business for $9 billion, the South Korean memory maker said on Tuesday.
The transaction includes the US chip giant’s NAND SSD business, NAND component and wafer business and its Dalian NAND memory chip facility in China.
Intel will retain its Optane memory business.
The two companies will seek to obtain governments’ approvals, which is expected in late 2021.
After getting the go-ahead from authorities, SK Hynix will make the first payment of $7 billion and acquire from Intel the NAND SS business, which includes intellectual properties (IP) and employees, and the Dalian facility.
The South Korean company will acquire from the US chip giant the remaining assets, IP related to manufacture and design of NAND Flash wafers, research employees and workforce at Dalian, after a final closing.
SK Hynix will make a payment of the remaining $2 billion expected in March, 2025 then.
Intel will continue to produce wafers at its Dalian facility and retain all related to IP at its until the final closing.
Intel possesses industry leading NAND SSD technology and quadruple level cell NAND Flash products, SK Hynix said.
The acquisition will enhance the competitiveness of its storage solutions, it added.
Intel’s NAND businesses contributed $600 million in operating income and $2.8 billion in sales to its non-volatile memory solutions group in the first six months of 2020 (Until June 27).
Intel will invest the proceeds from the deal to enhance its artificial intelligence, 5G and intelligent, autonomous edge technologies.
“I am pleased to see SK Hynix and Intel`s NAND division, which have led the NAND flash technology innovation, work to build the new future together,” said Lee Seok-hee, CEO of SK Hynix. “By taking each other`s strengths and technologies, SK Hynix will proactively respond to various needs from customers and optimize our business structure, expanding our innovative portfolio in the NAND flash market segment, which will be comparable with what we achieved in DRAM.”
Bob Swan, Intel CEO said: “I am proud of the NAND memory business we have built and believe this combination with SK Hynix will grow the memory ecosystem for the benefit of customers, partners and employees. For Intel, this transaction will allow us to further prioritize our investments in differentiated technology where we can play a bigger role in the success of our customers and deliver attractive returns to our stockholders.”