Hynix names new CEO


Park Chong-sup stepped down as Hynix CEO after the Micron deal was rejected by his board on Tuesday

Staff and wires

SEOUL, South Korea -- Embattled South Korean chipmaker Hynix Semiconductor named chief operating officer Park Sang-ho as chief executive Friday after the company's former CEO resigned.

The shake-up at the world's third-largest memory chipmaker follows the collapse of talks with U.S. rival Micron Technology.

Micron was proposing to buy Hynix's memory chip operations and some other parts of the business for about $3 billion.

The deal was approved by creditors but was rejected by the Hynix board in a surprise move Tuesday.

Micron said late Thursday it could see no way forward and was ending the talks with Hynix, which owes about $8 billion to its creditors.

Shares up

Hynix shares were up 5 won or 0.6 percent to 820 won in late trade Friday in Seoul.

Former CEO Park Chong-sup had worked closely with Micron boss Steve Appleton to reach a deal, Reuters news agency reported.

He resigned Tuesday but will stay at Hynix to lead efforts that will now focus on selling its non-memory operations, the company said in a statement.

Micron wanted to buy Hynix's six memory plants, which generated 70 percent of the company's revenues last year.