Intel to Invest $100 Mill. into Samsung Electronics

Samsung Electronics and Intel announced on January 21 that they have signed a letter of intent for Intel to invest 100 million dollars in Samsung Electronics.
Intel will acquire convertible bonds exchangeable for common stock representing approximately one percent of Samsung Electronics' outstanding common stock.
Samsung has agreed to use the proceeds from this investment and additional funds to invest in (Rambus) RDRAM fabrication, assembly and testing.
Samsung is already shipping sample RDRAM devices and will be ready for large-scale production in the second quarter of 1999.
The proposed deal is subject to the approval of Intel's and Samsung Electronics' board of directors as well as the Korean government's approval and agreement on definitive documents. Full approval is expected by the beginning of February.
This investment is part of Intel's strategy to support the supply of next generation memory products. The goal is to help drive PC-industry growth by accelerating the adoption of Direct RDRAM memory technology.
Intel believes that Direct RDRAM memory technology can help enhance balanced PC system performance as processor performance increases and more and more multimedia and 3D functions are used.
'This investment continues our long relationship with Samsung, the world's largest supplier in the memory market segment', said Patrick Gelsinger, vice president and general manager of Desktop Products Group at Intel. 'With this investment our goal is to help ensure an adequate supply of Direct RDRAM for the personal computer market segment over the next few years.'