Munger, Tolles & Olson advised Intel Corporation in its agreement to sell its NAND flash memory solid state drive and wafer businesses to SK Hynix, a South Korean semiconductor manufacturer, for $9 billion USD. The deal was signed on October 19, 2020.
Under the agreement, SK Hynix will acquire Intel’s NAND SSD business, its NAND component and wafer business, and its NAND manufacturing factory in Dalian, China. Intel will retain its OptaneTM memory business.
This deal has the potential to reshape the tech industry, as it will make SK Hynix one of the largest makers of NAND memory chips in the world. 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.
The Munger, Tolles & Olson Mergers & Acquisitions team who worked on this deal included Mark Kim, Kelly Kriebs, Michael Greaney, Tyler Hilton, and Natalie Karl; the Intellectual Property and Tech Transactions team included Zach Briers and Robin Gray; the Tax team included David Goldman and Matthew Schonholz; and the Antitrust team included Kyle Mach, Lauren Ross and April Hu.