South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix Inc. teamed up with Japanese financial institutions to bid for the semiconductor unit of Toshiba, for more than $9 billion, the Maeil Business Newspaper reported on Wednesday.
The paper did not name those Japanese investors, and SK Hynix did notprovide any comment.
In latest offer, bidders can go out for an equity stake from 50 percent to 100 percent plus management control in the Toshiba memory business.
According to sources, SK Hynix is pitted against Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry, better known as Foxconn Technology Group, Micron Technology and Toshiba's U.S. partner Western Digital. Samsung Electronics cannot participate in the bid due to monopolistic regulation as the chipmaker commands 37.1 percent of the global NAND flash market. Toshiba accounts for 18.3 percent.
SK Hynix had sought to take over Japan's Elpida Memory in 2012 but later pulled out. Elpida, who filed for bankruptcy in early 2012, was finally acquired by Micron.