OKI flogs chip business to rival

JAPANESE electronics firm, Oki Electric Industry Co. said it is to
sell 95 per cent of its semiconductor business to rival Rohm Co. for around $800 million.

The flogged-off firm will be called Oki Semiconductor and the sale should be completed by October 1, if OKI's shareholders give it the nod.

In a statement, Oki president Katsumasa Hinozuka said his firm hopes to " conduct a more flexible business operation, to establish an efficient and agile management structure that corresponds to the rapidly changing semiconductor market."

The outfit also announced some executive changes today as well as restating its financial results for the year to March 31st after getting some numbers wrong.

Oki Semiconductor will make Logic SLIs, system SLIs, P2ROM system memories using OKI's established foundry business. New products will include Silicon-on-insulator (SOI) and wafer-level chip-size packaging, according to the annoucement. Oki's existing chip-related subsidiaries with become subsidiaries of the new company. µ