Hynix shares up on talk it seeking ProMOS stake

SEOUL (Reuters) - Shares in Hynix Semiconductor Inc (000660.KS) and Taiwan's ProMOS Technologies (5387.TWO) jumped more than 3 percent on Thursday on market talk the world's No. 2 memory chip maker may buy a stake in its smaller Taiwanese rival.

Hynix and ProMOS declined to comment. ProMOS was due to hold an investor conference at 0600 GMT and a spokesman said it would announce a new partnership on more advanced technology. He declined to give any other details.

By 0300 GMT (11:00 p.m. EDT) Hynix shares were up 3.18 percent to 29,150 won after touching 29,300 won. In Taipei ProMOS shares were up 1.9 percent to T$8.43 by 0311 GMT after touching T$8.57, defying a 0.75 pct fall on Taiwan's main exchange.

On April 23, sources said Japan's top memory chip maker Elpida Memory (6665.T) would buy a single-digit stake in ProMOS, making it ProMOS's third biggest shareholder, through a private placement.

There had been speculation that, as a result of the tie-up, ProMOS could end its existing technology licensing agreement with Hynix.

But Taiwan's Economic Daily reported Thursday morning that Elpida and ProMOS had failed to reach any deal, quoting a knowledgeable source.

Elpida declined to comment.

Hynix, Elpida, sector leader Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and other players in the dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chip industry have struggled with a sixteen-month-long market downturn. Most chip makers have posted losses over the past several quarters, hurting their cash positions.

"ProMOS and Hynix had a relationship previously, but it sort of fell apart after Hynix strengthened its ties with Elpida," said Jay Kim, an analyst at Hyundai Securities.

"It appears that Hynix is getting friendly with ProMOS again. But I am not sure if the stake purchase is true, especially provided that Hynix is short of cash due to poor earnings".

(Additional reporting by Park Jung-youn in Seoul and Baker Li in Taipei)

(Reporting by Kim Yeon-hee, Marie-France Han and Park Ju-min; Editing by Keiron Henderson)