Qimonda transfers most staff to separate company

 

FRANKFURT, April 1 (Reuters) - Insolvent German memory chipmaker Qimonda (QMNDQ.PK) has transferred some 2,450 employees to a separate company in an effort to make the latter more attractive for potential investors.

 

Qimonda said in a statement on Wednesday that the transfer was "a central condition for the continuation of talks with investors".

 

The so-called transfer company will pay up to 77 percent of net wages for a maximum period of four and a half months until mid-August 2009, Qimonda said.

 

About 340 employees in Munich and a staff of 575 at its main plant in Dresden will keep operations running.

 

A Munich court formally launched insolvency proceedings on Wednesday and insolvency administrator Michael Jaffe now has some three months to find an investor for Qimonda.

 

He is also in talks over aid with the state of Saxony, home to the Dresden plant, as well Germany's federal govenrment, the EU and the state of Portugal, where Qimonda has its second European plant.

 

Creditors can submit their claims on outstanding debt owed to them by Qimonda until June 12, a spokeswoman for the court said. On June 16, the court will then begin hearings on the future of Qimonda, which it aims to conclude by August 4.

 

Qimonda filed for insolvency on Jan. 23 after it said a 325 million euro ($429.5 million) rescue attempt by its home state of Saxony, parent company Infineon (IFXGn.DE) and a group of banks had not come in time. [ID:nLN168875]

 

Since then, Qimonda has kept operations running at a reduced level and was able to record revenues of more than 90 million euros, the company said. 

Qimonda reiterated that no final decisions had been reached about the future structure of the company and repeated that if no investors can be found to finance Qimonda's continued operation, it would most likely be liquidated.

 

"In case of a liquidation of Qimonda AG, it is expected, based on the current state of affairs, that the shareholders of Qimonda AG will not receive any payments on their shares," Qimonda said.

 

Qimonda, the world's fourth-biggest chipmaker, is suffering from a massive drop in prices for dynamic random access memory chips, as are peers such as Elpida (6665.T) and Samsung (005930.KS). ($1=.7567 Euro) (Reporting by Nicola Leske and Jens Hack; Editing by Hans Peters)