Coming on the heels of five straight quarterly losses, Boise-based Micron Technologies may be looking to a Taiwanese company to boost its flagging DRAM production. Analysts at Lazard Capital Markets LLC reported on Tuesday that the global memory giant is likely to buy German firm Qimonda AG’s approximate 35 percent stake in Inotera Memories, Inc.
The move, which Lazard experts say could cost up to $1 billion, would replace Qimonda as Nanya Technology Corp.’s partner in Inotera, and comes less than two months after Micron inked a separate joint venture agreement with Nanya that will cost each party $550 million by the end of next year.
Combined with the Nanya JV, the Qimonda purchase would further deplete Micron’s already low cash reserves, which were at $1.8 billion in February, down from $2.92 billion last May. Speculation over the deal sent Micron’s stock on a 6.6 percent midday fall, from 58 cents to 8.18.
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