Kim & Chang and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom have represented South Korea’s SK Hynix on its $9 billion acquisition of U.S. tech firm Intel’s NAND memory and storage business, with Bae, Kim & Lee advising the seller.
The deal is reportedly the largest M&A in the domestic market, topping Samsung Electronics' takeover of Harman International for $8 billion in 2016.
The deal includes Intel’s NAND SSD business, the NAND component and wafer businesses, and the Dalian NAND memory manufacturing facility in China. Intel will keep its high-end Optane memory technology, developed in partnership with Micron Technology, which makes the Optane chips for Intel under a supply agreement, Reuters reported.
Reuters added the move marks the latest effort by the U.S. chipmaker to divest its non-core businesses, move away from the volatile commodity NAND chip industry and focus on its remaining Optane memory business, which is smaller but more lucrative because it taps more advanced technology.
The Skadden team was led by partners Mike Ringler, Young Shin, Regina Olshan, David Schwartz, Sean Shimamoto, Michael Leiter, Matthew Hendrickson, Andrew Foster and Lance Etcheverry.
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