China’s Tsinghua Unigroup has sent a letter to Micron Technology outlining a bid of USD 21 per share, a total of USD 23 billion, for the US chipmaker, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. The potential bid price is 19.3 percent higher than the share’s USD 17.61 closing price on 13 July.
A Micron spokesman said the company, based in Boise, Idaho, has not received a buyout offer and declined further comment.
Any deal would likely face close scrutiny by US officials. One question is whether it would be reviewed by the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (FIUS), a panel of representatives from more than a dozen departments and agencies across the US government. FIUS is charged with determining whether any foreign acquisitions or investments pose a security threat.
The bid reflects a widening push by the Chinese government to build more domestic sources of semiconductors. Tsinghua Unigroup was founded in 1988 by China’s Tsinghua University.
