Intel Flash spin-off draws FTC inquiry

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is demanding that Intel provide further information on its proposed spin-off Flash memory business with STMicroelectronics.

Intel said that the FTC asked for the additional information under a regulatory law known as the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act which requires the government to review acquisitions and mergers for possible anticompetitive implications.

The investigation dives into the corporate spin-off of Intel's and STMicroelectronics' Flash memory businesses into a new joint venture to be based in Switzerland.

Each of the companies would hold roughly 45 per cent of the new business, with a private equity firm controlling the remaining stake. The new firm would employ around 8,000 people.

Research firm iSuppli has estimated that the new company would inherit a combined share of around 30 per cent of the Flash memory market, making it the largest single Flash chipmaker in the world ahead of AMD spin-off Spansion.

No date has been given for the expected close of the deal and launch of the new company. Intel noted that, if and when the FTC clears the transaction, there will be a mandatory 30-day waiting period before the deal becomes official.