SK Hynix’s Intel NAND unit acquisition secures US approval

SK Hynix’s acquisition of Intel’s NAND business unit has received approval from the US government.

The South Korean memory maker said on Friday that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) gave the go-ahead for the deal.

SK Hynix already received the approval from the Federal Trade Commission of the US last year.

The company will now likely aim to secure approvals from other governments, including China, by the end of the year.

Afterwards, SK Hynix will make its first payment of US$7 billion to Intel to secure the latter’s IP and staff for NAND and solid-state drive (SSD) businesses.

It will then pay US$2 billion by March 2025 to secure Intel’s NAND flash plant in Dalian, China.

According to market research firm TrendForce, in the fourth quarter of 2020, SK Hynix was ranked fourth globally in NAND flash with an 11.6% market share. Samsung Electronics was the leader with 32.9% market share, followed by Kioxia’s 19.5%. Western Digital ranked third with 14.4% and Micron fifth with 11.2%. Intel held a share of 8.6% and was ranked sixth.