Infineon to Spin off DRAM Operations

Infineon Technologies is preparing to spin off its loss-making memory chip (DRAM) operations, according to an article to be published Thursday by the German magazine WirtschaftsWochen. "Behind the scenes the separation (of the unit) is going ahead at full speed," an unnamed supervisory board member told the magazine. "The spin-off could happen before the end of this year." A spokesman for Infineon, Europe's second-biggest semiconductor maker, declined to comment on the action. "That is speculation," the spokesman said. "On our side, there is nothing new to be said on the matter." Shares in Infineon jumped in early afternoon trading after the news broke, extending earlier gains made after US personal computer maker Hewlett-Packard reported solid figures overnight, dealers said. Infineon shares were up 2.64 percent at 7.77 euros, while the DAX 30 index was 25.97 points, or 0.53 percent, lower at 4,857.84. Infineon chief executive Wolfgang Ziebart in July denied a press report stating that Infineon was planning to launch an initial public offering of the DRAM unit this autumn. But at the time he said that in the long term a possible listing "remains an option."