Foxconn seems set to buy Hynix's LCD division

The pending sale of Hynix Semiconductor Inc.'s LCD business took another turn late this week when Cando Corp., a Taiwan-based component supplier originally expected to buy most of the division, failed to complete the deal.

At the same time, reports coming from a Taiwanese news outlet claimed that connector maker and EMS provider Foxconn Electronics Inc., Tucheng, Taiwan, has agreed to buy the Hydis LCD division from Hynix.

The deal, estimated at between $600 million and $700 million, is to include three TFT-LCD fabs in Ichon, Korea, according to Taiwan's DigiTimes. If completed, the deal would add Foxconn to a growing list of Taiwanese companies selling large TFT-LCDs, including AU Optronics, ChiMei, Chungwa Picture Tubes, HannStar, and Picview.

Hynix executives in Seoul declined to comment on the deal other than to confirm that talks with Cando had ended. Foxconn executives did not return calls. The company, with annual revenue of about $6 billion, is a vertically integrated, high-volume supplier of connectors and cable assemblies and enclosures for desktop PCs and PC servers.

Whichever company acquires Hydis will gain an enterprise that, because of a lack of investment, trails other LCD suppliers in technology, noted Barry Young, an analyst at DisplaySearch Inc., Austin, Texas. Young conceded that Hydis might be suited for a company selling into the PC market, particularly now with shortages of large LCD panels.

Hynix originally was to have sold Cando 80% of Hydis' shares last September for $460 million. The deal was called off early last week amid speculation that Cando could not make the initial payment.

News source: EBN - Foxconn seems set to buy Hynix's LCD division