苹果,亚马逊支持富士康竞购东芝闪存业务

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)创始人郭台铭(Terry Gou)表示，在以逾200亿美元出价收购东芝(Toshiba)闪存业务的交易中，他已经赢得了苹果(Apple)和亚马逊(Amazon)的财务支持。这家台资集团正设法化解日本政府对这笔交易的反对。

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.

郭台铭在周日接受《日经产业新闻》(Nikkei Business Daily)采访时表示，这两家美国科技集团正在同富士康携手合作，后者在台湾上市的正式名称为鸿海精密(Hon Hai Precision Industry)。东芝希望在本月末之前敲定出售其芯片部门的交易，这家日本工业集团正艰难应对其美国核业务带来的巨额亏损。

“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.

郭台铭对《日经产业新闻》说：“当然，苹果和亚马逊都提出愿意出资，但我不能透露每家公司具体提议拿出多少资金。”

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.

在另一份声明中，富士康称，已经与“多个战略合作伙伴”一起向东芝芯片业务提出收购要约，但拒绝提供更多细节。亚马逊拒绝置评，记者一时联系不上苹果公司请其置评。

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.

参与此次收购的人士表示，去年已收购日本夏普(Sharp)的富士康，一直在与苹果研究联合竞标，有可能利用一只由日本科技集团软银(SoftBank)不久前成立的930亿美元投资基金。

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，对智能手机及其他设备长期数据存储所用的NAND闪存芯片的需求预计将会增加，得益于亚马逊、谷歌(Google)、苹果等科技公司在人工智能和物联网时代纷纷建立数据中心。

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.

这家台湾集团早些时候曾表示，愿意支付高达3万亿日元（合270亿美元）收购东芝NAND闪存芯片业务，使其成为出价方面的领先竞争者。

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.

但由于东京方面担心东芝的闪存技术落入亚洲竞争者手中，这一交易在政治上变得问题重重，东芝可能无法确保以最高可能的价码出售。日本政府官员私下表达了对富士康竞标的担忧，尤其是鉴于该集团与中国的密切关系。

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.

虽然富士康与硅谷两大科技集团的联合可能有助于缓解部分政治担忧，但分析人士表示，要说服那些在幕后致力于推动由一个日美财团完成收购的日本政府官员，郭台铭仍面临一场艰难的斗争。

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.

参与谈判的知情人士表示，这些官员希望将东芝的芯片业务置于日本政府支持的投资基金“产业革新机构”(Innovation Network Corporation of Japan)的控制之下，后者正考虑与美国私人股本基金KKR或是美国芯片制造商西部数据(Western Digital)进行联合竞标。

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.

其他竞标方包括携手韩国芯片制造商SK海力士(SK Hynix)的美国私人股本公司贝恩资本(Bain Capital)、以及与私人股本公司银湖资本(Silver Lake)合作的美国芯片制造商博通(Broadcom)。