SK hynix chief may opt for corporate acquisition to expand foundry business

SK hynix Vice Chairman and Co-CEO Park Jung-ho / Korea Times file

By Yi Whan-woo

SK hynix Vice Chairman Park Jung-ho is considering corporate acquisitions among other possible measures to bolster production capacity in the firm's foundry business, Park said Thursday.

His comments came on the heels of a government-led semiconductor investment plan also unveiled on Thursday, to boost Korea's leading position in chip technology amid an intensifying global race to secure supply.

Park has been recognized for his expertise in mergers and acquisitions and corporate restructuring, which SK Group has been using for its expansion. SK hynix is an affiliate of SK Group.

He has been serving as the chipmaker's co-CEO since late March.

“M&As, along with increasing manufacturing facilities in Korea, are various possible options to double SK hynix's production capacity,” he said in a statement issued by the company.

Park is responsible for redefining the company's corporate culture and setting long-term strategies including corporate acquisitions and investments.

He has also been in charge of overseeing technology development and managing SK hynix's DRAM chip and NAND flash memory businesses. SK hynix is the world's second-largest supplier of DRAM and NAND flash memory chips.

Memory chips accounted for 94 percent of the chipmaker's 2020 revenue of 31.9 trillion won ($28.6 billion), which breaks down into 22.5 trillion won from DRAM sales and 7.5 trillion won from NAND flash sales.

In 2020, SK hynix, jointly with the Korea Federation of Community Credit Cooperatives, invested in the foundry business of Korea-based logic chipmaker MagnaChip.

It runs 8-inch foundry processing, managing display driver integrated circuits and power semiconductor products. The unit raised 117.9 billion won in operating income on sales of 703 billion won last year.