蘋果、亞馬遜支持富士康競(jìng)購(gòu)東芝閃存業(yè)務(wù)

Foxconn founder Terry Gou has said that he has won the financial backing of Apple and Amazon in its $20bn-plus bid for Toshiba’s flash memory business, as the Taiwanese group aims to counter Japanese government opposition to the deal.

富士康(Foxconn)創(chuàng)始人郭臺(tái)銘(Terry Gou)表示，在以逾200億美元出價(jià)收購(gòu)東芝(Toshiba)閃存業(yè)務(wù)的交易中，他已經(jīng)贏得了蘋果(Apple)和亞馬遜(Amazon)的財(cái)務(wù)支持。這家臺(tái)資集團(tuán)正設(shè)法化解日本政府對(duì)這筆交易的反對(duì)。

In an interview with the Nikkei business daily on Sunday, Mr Gou said that the two US tech groups are joining hands with Foxconn, which is listed as Hon Hai Precision Industry. Toshiba is looking to clinch a deal on the sale of its chip division by the end of this month as the Japanese industrial group grapples with huge losses arising from its US nuclear business.

郭臺(tái)銘在周日接受《日經(jīng)產(chǎn)業(yè)新聞》(Nikkei Business Daily)采訪時(shí)表示，這兩家美國(guó)科技集團(tuán)正在同富士康攜手合作，后者在臺(tái)灣上市的正式名稱為鴻海精密(Hon Hai Precision Industry)。東芝希望在本月末之前敲定出售其芯片部門的交易，這家日本工業(yè)集團(tuán)正艱難應(yīng)對(duì)其美國(guó)核業(yè)務(wù)帶來的巨額虧損。

“Of course Apple and Amazon are offering money together, but I cannot comment on how much funds each company is putting on the table,” Mr Gou told the Nikkei.

郭臺(tái)銘對(duì)《日經(jīng)產(chǎn)業(yè)新聞》說：“當(dāng)然，蘋果和亞馬遜都提出愿意出資，但我不能透露每家公司具體提議拿出多少資金。”

In a separate statement, Foxconn said it had submitted a bid for Toshiba’s chip business with “a number of strategic partners”, but the company declined to provide further details. Amazon declined to comment and Apple was not immediately available for comment.

在另一份聲明中，富士康稱，已經(jīng)與“多個(gè)戰(zhàn)略合作伙伴”一起向東芝芯片業(yè)務(wù)提出收購(gòu)要約，但拒絕提供更多細(xì)節(jié)。亞馬遜拒絕置評(píng)，記者一時(shí)聯(lián)系不上蘋果公司請(qǐng)其置評(píng)。

People involved in the sales process said that Foxconn, which also acquired Japan’s Sharp last year, has been studying a joint bid with Apple, potentially using a $93bn investment fund that was recently launched by SoftBank, the Japanese technology group.

參與此次收購(gòu)的人士表示，去年已收購(gòu)日本夏普(Sharp)的富士康，一直在與蘋果研究聯(lián)合競(jìng)標(biāo)，有可能利用一只由日本科技集團(tuán)軟銀(SoftBank)不久前成立的930億美元投資基金。

Analysts say demand for NAND flash memory chips, used for long-term data storage for smartphones and other devices, is expected to increase on the back of a boon in data centres for technology companies such as Amazon, Google and Apple in the age of artificial intelligence and internet of things.

分析人士表示，對(duì)智能手機(jī)及其他設(shè)備長(zhǎng)期數(shù)據(jù)存儲(chǔ)所用的NAND閃存芯片的需求預(yù)計(jì)將會(huì)增加，得益于亞馬遜、谷歌(Google)、蘋果等科技公司在人工智能和物聯(lián)網(wǎng)時(shí)代紛紛建立數(shù)據(jù)中心。

The Taiwanese group has earlier indicated that it would be willing to pay up to ¥3tn ($27bn) for the NAND memory chip business, making it the lead contender in terms of offer price.

這家臺(tái)灣集團(tuán)早些時(shí)候曾表示，愿意支付高達(dá)3萬(wàn)億日元(合270億美元)收購(gòu)東芝NAND閃存芯片業(yè)務(wù)，使其成為出價(jià)方面的領(lǐng)先競(jìng)爭(zhēng)者。

But the deal has become politically fraught and Toshiba may not secure the highest possible price amid Tokyo’s concerns about the company’s flash memory technology falling into rival Asian hands. Government officials have privately expressed concerns about Foxconn’s bid, in particular due to its close ties with China.

但由于東京方面擔(dān)心東芝的閃存技術(shù)落入亞洲競(jìng)爭(zhēng)者手中，這一交易在政治上變得問題重重，東芝可能無法確保以最高可能的價(jià)碼出售。日本政府官員私下表達(dá)了對(duì)富士康競(jìng)標(biāo)的擔(dān)憂，尤其是鑒于該集團(tuán)與中國(guó)的密切關(guān)系。

While Foxconn’s tie-up with the Silicon Valley groups may help to ease some political concerns, analysts say Mr Gou will still face an uphill battle to convince Japanese government officials who have worked the behind the scenes to promote a Japan-US consortium.

雖然富士康與硅谷兩大科技集團(tuán)的聯(lián)合可能有助于緩解部分政治擔(dān)憂，但分析人士表示，要說服那些在幕后致力于推動(dòng)由一個(gè)日美財(cái)團(tuán)完成收購(gòu)的日本政府官員，郭臺(tái)銘仍面臨一場(chǎng)艱難的斗爭(zhēng)。

These officials envision putting Toshiba’s chip business under the control of the state-backed Innovation Network Corporation of Japan fund, which is weighing a joint bid either with US private equity fund KKR or US chipmaker Western Digital, according to people involved in the talks.

參與談判的知情人士表示，這些官員希望將東芝的芯片業(yè)務(wù)置于日本政府支持的投資基金“產(chǎn)業(yè)革新機(jī)構(gòu)”(Innovation Network Corporation of Japan)的控制之下，后者正考慮與美國(guó)私人股本基金KKR或是美國(guó)芯片制造商西部數(shù)據(jù)(Western Digital)進(jìn)行聯(lián)合競(jìng)標(biāo)。

Other contenders include US private equity firm Bain Capital, which is partnering with South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix, and US chipmaker Broadcom, which has been working with private equity firm Silver Lake.

其他競(jìng)標(biāo)方包括攜手韓國(guó)芯片制造商SK海力士(SK Hynix)的美國(guó)私人股本公司貝恩資本(Bain Capital)、以及與私人股本公司銀湖資本(Silver Lake)合作的美國(guó)芯片制造商博通(Broadcom)。

Additional reporting by Louise Lucas in Hong Kong

路易絲•盧卡斯(Louise Lucas)香港補(bǔ)充報(bào)道