Alphatec Electronics Plc, the debt-ridden Thai chipmaker, has been offered salvation by a giant US financial institution and an investment company owned by Swedish telecommunication firm Ericsson AB. American International Group and Investment AB have offered to put in $40m for a five-year restructuring plan in return for an 80% stake in the equity. Success of the deal depends on creditors agreeing to swap their debt for the remaining 20% holding at a meeting next week. Missing money, faked profit figures and the eventual discovery that the operation was $450m in debt brought Alphatec to its knees and its US partner Texas Instruments pulled out (CI No 3,271). Alphatec’s major project was Submicron Technology, set up to build what were then state-of-the art 64Mb memory chips. It is also involved in China through Alphatec Shanghai, a joint venture with Shanghai Instrumentation and Electronics Holding Group Company and Microchip Technology Inc.
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