SEOUL-- South Korean chipmaker SK hynix Inc. said Wednesday it has received approval from Chinese authorities for its takeover of Intel Corp.'s NAND memory chip business, clearing the final hurdle for the merger process.
SK hynix received "merger clearance from the Chinese antitrust authority, State Administration for Market Regulation, for its acquisition of Intel NAND and SSD business," it said in a statement.
With the latest approval, the South Korean chipmaker has received all required approvals from eight jurisdictions from the relevant competition authorities.
"SK hynix will enhance its competitiveness of NAND Flash and SSD business by continuing the remaining post-merger integration process," the company said.
In October last year, South Korea's No. 2 memory chip maker signed a deal to buy Intel's non-volatile business for US$9 billion, which includes the U.S. firm's solid state drive business and a NAND flash chip plant in Dalian, China.
Following the deal, the company obtained approvals from antitrust regulators in South Korea, the United States, the European Union, Taiwan, Brazil, Britain and Singapore, up until July.
In the meantime, concerns were rising over a possibility that the deal could fall victim to the on-going tech rivalry between the U.S. and China, which cast a pall over the chipmaker's plan to upgrade its Chinese factory with advanced chipmaking machines.
The U.S. has opposed bringing such high-tech equipment into China, saying it could end up being used to bolster China's military capabilities.
SK hynix, however, said the company does not have an immediate plan to install the equipment in question -- Dutch firm ASML's extreme ultraviolet lithography machines -- in its factory in Wuxi, China.
"SK hynix's efforts to persuade the Chinese authorities paid off," the company said, adding the deal was approved because it "is deemed mutually beneficial" for all three countries involved.
The deal could "help South Korea boost the competitiveness of the country's NAND business, while Intel would contribute to the U.S. economy by bringing back investments in the U.S. It's also likely to benefit China, as SK hynix will continue to invest in the Dalian fab that Intel has owned," the company said.
The company is the world's second-largest memory chip maker with a market share of 27.2 percent in the third quarter behind the dominant player Samsung Electronics, according to analyst firm TrendForce.
Source: Yonhap News Agency