
Memory chipmaker Micron Technology Inc., and disk drive vendor Western Digital Corp. are in talks with SanDisk the report said. SanDisk market capitalization stands at about $12.6 billion.
SanDisk could also be targeted by a Chinese acquirer such as state-controlled Tsinghua Unigroup, which has already made an informal bid of $23 billion for Micron. An alternative Chinese acquirer could be the Unigroup-associated Unisplendor, which has agreed to buy a 15 percent stake in Western Digital for $3.775 billion.
This adds to Western Digital’s cash for deals at a time when consolidation is reaching fever pitch across the semiconductor sector.
SanDisk is a designer and manufacturer of flash non-volatile memory. It does its manufacturing in Japan via a partnership with Toshiba although Toshiba’s future path is in doubt after the company revealed it has overstated its financial position over seven years by about $1.9 billion.
SanDisk is behind several other manufacturers in size, in particular Samsung and SK Hynix of South Korea and so a takeover by one of its rivals would appear to make sense.
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