Qimonda Richmond seeks court nod to sell $40.5 mln assets

sources: Reuters    24/2/2010 17:29:33

Qimonda Richmond, the U.S. unit of Germany's insolvent memory chip maker Qimonda AG (QMNDQ.PK), has sought bankruptcy court approval to sell an additional $40.5 million worth of assets.

In court papers filed on Monday, the company said Texas Instruments Inc (TXN.N) had agreed to buy certain tools, spare parts and diagnostic equipment for $20.7 million at Qimonda's Sandston, Virginia plant.

TI, which bought majority of Qimonda's equipment last August for $172.5 million, will be the stalking horse bidder for the remaining equipment and set the floor at a court supervised auction.

Richmond Semiconductor LLC has agreed to buy Qimonda's 1,364,343 square foot manufacturing facility in Sandston for $12 million while Global Alliance Tech Ltd has agreed to buy certain machinery for $7.8 million, the filing said.

Qimonda's German parent filed for insolvency last January as a result of huge industry price drops and a global financing squeeze.

Qimonda Richmond filed for protection from creditors in the U.S. last February along with another unit, Qimonda North America.

The company was the world's fourth-biggest maker of the DRAM memory chips that are used mainly in PCs.

The case is In re Qimonda Richmond LLC, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware, No. 09-10589. (Reporting by Santosh Nadgir in Bangalore; Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)