Intel has completed the first part of the $9 billion deal to sell its NAND and SSD business, selling its SSD business and the Dalian NAND memory manufacturing facility in China to Seoul-based SK hynix.
Intel announced the $9 billion deal on Oct. 19, 2020. Intel will receive $7 billion for the first part of the deal and the remaining $7 billion for the second part.
Intel said it will continue to manufacture NAND wafers at SK hynix’s Dalian memory manufacturing facility and retain certain IP related to the manufacture and design of NAND flash wafers until the final closing of the transaction.
The final closing is expected to occur in or after March 2025, when SK hynix will acquire from Intel the remaining NAND business assets, including certain IP related to the manufacture and design of NAND flash wafers, R&D employees and the Dalian fab workforce, for $2 billion.
For the six months ended June 27, 2020, NAND businesses represented approximately US $2.8 billion of the revenue for Intel’s Non-volatile Memory Solutions Group (NSG) and contributed approximately US $600 million to NSG operating income.
The SSD business will transition to a newly formed company, Solidigm, a subsidiary of SK hynix. Solidigm, whose name reflects a new paradigm in solid-state storage, will name Robert (Rob) B. Crooke as CEO. Crooke was previously senior vice president and general manager of Intel’s Non-Volatile Memory Solutions Group. Solidigm will have its headquarters in San Jose, California.
Intel intends to invest transaction proceeds to deliver leadership products and advance its long-term growth priorities, including artificial intelligence, 5G networking and the intelligent, autonomous edge.
SK hynix said it aims to enhance the competitiveness of its storage solutions, including enterprise SSDs, in the rapidly growing NAND flash space, and further aims to leap forward as one of the leading global semiconductor companies in the industry.