SK hynix said Friday the chipmaker inked a deal to acquire a 100 percent stake in domestic foundry firm Key Foundry for 575.8 billion won ($492.55 million).

Key Foundry, based in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, is a foundry-specialized firm producing chips for its customers using 8-inch wafers.

It can produce non-memory products such as power management ICs, display driver ICs and microcontroller units. 

Key Foundry was formerly LG Semiconductor, which was established in 1979. 

The former LG affiliate became Hynix when it merged with Hyundai Electronics in 1999. 

In 2004, Hynix separated its memory and non-memory sectors, and sold the non-memory chip division to an overseas fund after naming it “Magnachip”.
 
Key Foundry, which split from Magnachip afterwards, was acquired by a domestic private equity’s special purpose company Magnus Semiconductor. 

SK hynix had previously invested in the private equity special purpose company for a 49.76 percent stake in Key Foundry. The latest deal allows SK hynix to fully own the foundry firm.

“The acquisition of Key Foundry is expected to contribute to doubling SK hynix’s foundry capacity,” the company said in a press release. “SK hynix will raise its capability for system-on-chips and make efforts to help stabilize the global chips shortages and support the domestic fabless industry.”

In May, when the government announced the K-semiconductor strategy plan to strengthen the chip industry’s ecosystem, SK hynix Vice Chairman Park Jung-ho announced the chipmaker’s plan to expand 8-inch wafer foundry capacity and said the company was considering various options, including mergers and acquisitions.

(song@heraldcorp.com)