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04/26(Fri) 17:59
Creditors Offer Debt Write-off for Hynix
Creditor banks of Hynix Semiconductor decided to write off a total of W1.78 trillion in loans for Hynix's non-memory operation, which will be excluded from the Hynix-Micron deal.
In compensation for the debt write-off, the creditors have begun studying ways to reduce the ratio of Hynix shares to 13.5 to 1 once the sales deal is all wrapped up.
These agreements were produced at the creditors' meeting on Friday that was held to probe ways to help the non-memory operation of Hynix survive on its own. In the meeting, Korea Exchange Bank (KEB), the largest creditor of Hynix, proposed that all the creditors write off W1.7 trillion in loans, accounting for half of Hynix's total unsecured debts, to keep the non-memory operation afloat.
Once the KEB proposal is passed, the total debt of the remaining operation is to go down to the W3 trillion level.
Pointing out that, after the sales deal, the non-memory operation will have a capital of W19.8 trillion, an absurdly high capital for its decimated assets, KEB called for the share ratio reduction for the operation of 13.5 shares to 1.
The share reduction will see the Korean creditors secure a 69.3 percent stake in the operation, in contrast to a 15 percent stake Micron would hold through its injection of W200 million in cash into the non-memory firm.
Meanwhile, Chair Lee Keun-young of the Financial Supervisory Commission, the state financial regulator, met with the Hynix creditors of the non-banking sector, including insurance, investment trust and leasing firms, on Friday and urged them to give the go-ahead to the memorandum of understanding signed between the United States chipmaker and Korean creditors.
Lee said that he does not see any other solution except selling off Hynix, despite surging opposition to the sale recently.
The Hynix creditors are expected to hold a plenary meeting on Monday to decide on their official position on the memorandum.
(Hwang Soon-hyun, icarus at chosun.com)