The investment comes as part of Micron’s restructuring efforts of its Taiwanese operations. In late 2015, the company agreed to sell shares and license technology to Nanya as part of a deal to acquire remaining shares of joint-venture Inotera.
Nanya currently owns a 24.2 percent stake in Inotera, while Micron owns 33 percent. Inotera shares will be delisted from the Taiwan Stock Exchange in December while Nanya uses the proceeds to buy its five percent stake in Micron. The sale of shares is expected to give Nanya NT $19.94 billion (US $629 million) in pretax profit, while the company plans to file the gains in its fourth quarter earnings report.
By investing in Micron shares, Nanya says it will gain access to the US firm’s high-end DRAM production process and should contribute to the Taiwanese chip maker’s competitiveness in the long term.