이 기사는 2021년 12월 20일 07시51분 thebell에 표출된 기사입니다

South Korea’s SK hynix is nearing the completion of its acquisitions of Intel’s NAND flash memory business and the country's leading foundry chip manufacturer Key Foundry as the deals are expected to get antitrust approval from China as early as January 2022.

SK hynix filed for approval of the announced business combination with Key Foundry in the U.S., China, and Taiwan through local law firm Kim & Chang, according to industry sources.

The most important factor in the business combination review is whether the combination would substantially restrain competition in that relevant market. SK hynix runs foundry business through SK hynix System IC, but the transaction won’t likely to be subject to competition restriction as a combined market share of its subsidiary and Key Foundry is in a 1% range.

The acquisition would double SK hynix’s foundry production capacity to around 200,000 sheets of wafers per month. According to research firm TrendForce, DB HiTek, which produces 140,000 wafers per month, ranked 10th with a 1% share of the global foundry market. Taiwan's Vanguard International Semiconductor was in the eighth place with a market share in a 1% range, with a monthly capacity of about 240,000 wafers. SK hynix won’t likely exceed 1% market share in the short term even after the acquisition of Key Foundry.

The chipmaker may benefit from a simplified approval process as the business combination is not presumed to have any restrictions on competition. In this case, final results may be announced as early as the end of January.

SK hynix’s acquisition of Intel’s NAND memory business is expected to get antitrust approval in China this week. The chipmaker aims to close the deal before the end of this year.

The transaction already received unconditional approval from seven countries including the U.S. and the EU. (Reporting by Hye-ran Kim)