China’s Tsinghua Unigroup offers to buy Micron Technology for $23 billion

China’s largest state-owned microchip designer, Tsinghua Unigroup, has offered to buy USA chipmaker Micron Technology (MU.NASDAQ) for US$23 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed sources.

If it goes ahead, the deal would be the biggest Chinese takeover of a US company.

Tsinghua will bid $21 a share, or about 19 percent more than Monday’s closing price in New York, and present the offer as soon as Tuesday, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private.

Micron and Tsinghua Unigroup were not immediately available to comment on the report. The Idaho-based firm is the last remaining USA producer of DRAMs, Dow Jones said. In May, the company purchased a $2.3 billion majority stake in Hewlett Packard’s Chinese server, storage and technology unit.

Acquiring Micron’s cutting-edge memory manufacturing technology would be a major advance for China’s modest but improving chip industry.

Song Myung-sup, an analyst at HI Investment and Securities, told the newswire: “China’s aggressive investment can expand the rival company Micro’s capex, if the deal is reached”.

Micron shares fell 18 percent on the day after it reported the revenue decline, the sharpest single-day drop since December 2008.