US watchdog approves SK hynix's acquisition of Intel's NAND biz

A US foreign investment watchdog has approved SK hynix Inc's acquisition of Intel Corp.'s NAND business.

SK hynix signed a deal last October to buy Intel's non-volatile memory unit for US$9 billion, which includes the solid-state drive business and a NAND flash chip plant in Dalian, China.

Following the deal, the South Korean chipmaker still needs to obtain approvals from antitrust regulators in major countries.

Intel's acquisition had to be reviewed by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). SK hynix passed the FTC's review last year.

SK hynix will make an initial payment to Intel of $7 billion after the completion of governmental approvals late this year. It will pay the remaining $2 billion to Intel by March 2025.

SK hynix's acquisition of Intel's NAND business is projected to catapult it from being the world's fourth-largest NAND flash producer to second-largest, just behind Samsung Electronics Co.

SK hynix had a market share of 11.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020.