Vladimir Putin hopes to find buyers for Qimonda in Russia
German company Qimonda AG, one of the world's leading memory chip producers which is now going through a bankruptcy procedure, may be bought by a Russian investor, it was announced yesterday. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin expressed interest in the company during talks with the Prime Minister of Saxony, Stanislaw Tillich. The latter quoted the Russian Prime Minister as saying that he was going to order a "quick and thorough check" of the opportunities that Russian investors have with regard to Qimonda, Reuters reports.
No other details of a possible deal are known as yet.
Meanwhile there is a sense in the expert community that there are not many claimants to the asset in Russia. In the opinion of Vladislav Kochetkov, an analyst with the investment company Finam, the German chip producer could interest either the Russian nanotechnology corporation (Rusnano) or the Sitronics company, in which AFK Sistema has a 60% stake. "It would be a good asset for Rusnano which can be reanimated and integrated with some Russian company," the expert argues.
"Sitronics has experience buying foreign companies in trouble. It is a core player in this segment and if it succeeds in obtaining an affordable loan it may become the owner of Qimonda," said Kochetkov. He puts the cost of the chip producer at about $100 million.
Sitronics does not see why, given the current economic situation, the asset could be of interest to Sitronics Microelectronics, Sitronics representative Sergei Filippov told Gazeta. "The acquisition of Qimonda does not provide access to unique technologies or to new markets," Filippov said.
He also noted that competition in the memory chip market is driven exclusively by price. "It is a standard product and the lower the price the more of the product will be bought by computer technology manufacturers," said the Sitronics representative.
He believes that market players in this segment frequently resort to dumping, which constantly brings losses to producers, so many major technological companies hive off memory chip assets.
No comments could be obtained from Rusnano yesterday. It is not quite clear why the Russian authorities have decided to focus on a company which is on the brink of bankruptcy, experts note. In the opinion of Kochetkov, companies which have no financial problems are not offered for sale at present.
"Russia needs a diversified producer with a strong R&D unit which has experience developing original products and technologies, Sitronics spokesman says. Only the creation of a unique product protected by patents and organising its production can win the company a niche in the international market."
Anton Trifonov
