为了提升获利以及减轻资本支出需求,英飞凌科技(Infineon Technologies)在2006年分割旗下内存业务成立奇梦达(Qimonda)公司;不料,这家公司旋即成了英飞凌挥之不去的梦靥。英飞凌科技在最近发布的一份新闻稿表示,奇梦达的破产管理人要求赔偿33.5亿欧元(42亿美元)外加利息的高额费用,以解决该公司被指控不当利用旗下业务部门而导致至今悬而未决的诉讼。
奇梦达公司的破产管理人一开始要求英飞凌支付的费用是17.1亿欧元。但英飞凌并未说明为什么至今这笔费用几乎已增加了近一倍之多。
英飞凌正设法提升公司的整体营收成长。根据业界媒体报导,本月初,该公司CEO Peter Bauer对于2012年前景发表审慎持平的看法,他表示由于欧洲南部的需求疲软扺销了在亚洲稳定成长的业绩,使得整体订单量已略微下降。
在此销售疲软的背景下,英飞凌科技坚定地回绝了奇梦达所提出的要求,该公司并不认同破产管理员所要求的金额及其提出这一要求的依据。
在响应这项要求的声明中,英飞凌表示,管理人员声称“2006年春天,有关两项非现金投资的内存业务对奇梦达所贡献的产值,不但远不及约值六亿美元的新股价值,它事实上还是负的。”该公司并且已经“仔细地检视此一非现金投入的价值,将全力反击奇梦达的索赔要求,并对此次诉讼结果深具信心”
当英飞凌决定分割其内存业务另成立奇梦达公司时,DRAM市场的价格已经开始下跌了,只有少数几家厂商还能获利。为了持续在该领域具有竞争力所需付出的庞大资本开支拖累了英飞凌其它更有利润的业务部门。在当时的情况下,分割出内存业务似乎是一个不错的主意,有助于该公司资产及其它资源集中,并脱离内存业务领域。
在当时,奇梦达可说是市场上的第二大内存制造商,但后来却无法维持这一地位,甚至慢慢地迈向破产与停业清盘。目前不利于英飞凌的法院裁决就是在“资产减损责任”方面。据报导,该公司在今年第一季末约有现金与短期投资共22亿欧元,即使手上只有2.05亿欧元的长期债务,该公司也必须大量借贷才可能负担得起如此庞大的费用。
本文授权编译自EBN Online,版权所有,谢绝转载
编译:Susan Hong
本文下一页:参考英文原文:Will Infineon Be Forced to Pay Qimonda $4.2B?,by Bolaji Ojo, Editor in Chief
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Will Infineon Be Forced to Pay Qimonda $4.2B?
Bolaji Ojo
The 2006 spinoff of Qimonda AG was meant to improve profitability and lessen capital expenditure requirements for Infineon Technologies AG (NYSE/Frankfurt: IFX) but is turning into a nightmare for the German company. In a press release today, Infineon said Qimonda's insolvency administrator wants it to pay ?.35 billion ($4.2 billion) plus interest to settle outstanding litigation resulting from its alleged failure to capitalize the former business unit properly.
The administrator initially asked Infineon to pay ?.71 billion. Infineon did not say why the amount has been nearly doubled.
Infineon is trying to boost revenue growth. reported this month that Peter Bauer, the newly appointed CEO, had given a cautious outlook for 2012 and said orders had fallen slightly, due to weak demand in southern Europe that countered modest improvement in Asia.
Against this backdrop of weakening sales, the Qimonda request is getting a spirited response from Infineon, which said it disagrees with the bankruptcy administrator both on the amount requested and the basis for the request.
In a response to the initial request, Infineon said the administrator had claimed that "the value of the memory business contributed to Qimonda AG as a non-cash contribution in connection with two capital increases in the spring of 2006 was not only not equivalent to the price of the new shares issued in return, namely Euro 600 million in total, but was actually negative." The company said it had "made a detailed examination of the value of the non-cash contribution, will continue to vigorously defend itself against the claims, and remains confident about the outcome of this lawsuit."
When Infineon decided to spin off its memory operation as Qimonda, pricing in the DRAM market was sinking, and few participants were turning a profit. The huge capital expenditure required to remain competitive in the sector was dragging down Infineon's more profitable business units. It seemed like a good idea at the time to spin off the operation, contribute assets and other resources, and get out of the memory business.
Qimonda was the second-largest memory maker in the market at the time of the spinoff, but it couldn't hold that position, and it slowly slid into liquidation. A court ruling against Infineon would be financially devastating for the company. It reported ?.2 billion in cash and short-term investments at the end of the first quarter, and even though it had only ?05 million of long-term debt (for a net cash position of approximately ? billion), it would still have to borrow heavily to foot a bill that large.
责编:Quentin