Following Micron, Korean memory chip maker SK Hynix has reportedly rejected an investment offer from China's state-backed Tsinghua Unigroup.
Barron Asia reports that Tsinghua Unigroup offered to buy 20 percent of SK Hynix for about $5.3 billion on condition that the company built a wafer fab in China to make NAND flash memory. SK Hynix has rejected the affer adding that it was not for sale, according to the report.
In July of this year Tsinghua Unigroup made an informal bid of $23 billion to acquire Micron Technology, which was rejected by the management of the company.
Earlier this month the state-controlled conglomerate was revealed to be planning to invest about S12.5 billion in a memory chip factory through Tongfang Guoxin Electronics Co. Ltd., a manufacturer of piezoelectric quartz crystal components. TongFang said it will raise 80 billion yuan mainly provided by Tsinghua Unigroup affiliated companies in a stock exchange regulatory filing, the reports said.
Through Tsinghua, China is trying to build up its position in semiconductors. The stated aim is to become the world's third largest manufacturer of chips, following behind Taiwan and South Korea.