Micron Technology on Monday confirmed that talks to take over seven Hynix Semiconductor Inc. memory fabs have broken off and no further discussions between the two firms are scheduled.
A Micron spokesman declined to elaborate, but some industry sources said the two sides couldn't narrow their differences over the price for the seven fabs. Micron reportedly had offered $2.5-to-$3 billion, but some of the largest Koreancreditors of Hynix wanted several billion more.
The two sides were negotiating last week in California but were unable to reach any agreement. The Micron spokesman said at this time there are no plans to resume any talks at this time.
It wasn't clear if the negotiations were irrevocably dead, or if this part of a Korean "brinkmanship" negotiating pattern. The Micron spokesman declined to go beyond the statement that no further talks are scheduled " at this time," but some sources speculated that this left the door open for the Koreans to return to the table if they were willing to accept terms much closer to Micron's original offer.
