Chinese state-owned company makes offer for memory manufacturer Micron

The chip company Tsinghua Unigroup, which is part of a holding company that is wholly owned by the Chinese state, has bid 23 billion dollars, currently converted 20.9 billion euros, for the American memory manufacturer Micron.

If the takeover goes through, it could become the largest takeover of a foreign company by a Chinese organization. Tsinghua Unigroup has reported the takeover offer in a letter to Micron, The Wall Street Journal claims based on information from people familiar with the plans. Micron tells the paper that it has not received an offer, but the memory company will not comment further.

Micron takes second place in the memory market after Samsung. The company has annual sales of more than $16 billion, but is struggling with declining revenues due to low dram prices. A possible takeover would probably not take place until after thorough investigations by the US government. Acquisitions of US technology companies by China are sensitive. Tsinghua Unigroup already has a large stake in HP’s networking business in China.

Conversely, Intel has a 20 percent stake in the Tsinghua Unigroup, which was founded in 1988 from Tsinghua University. In 2013, Tsinghua Unigroup already acquired two major Chinese chip companies. The chip company is part of Tsinghua Holding, a holding company that is wholly owned by the Chinese state.