Bankrupt chipmaker Spansion to sell China operations to Powertech

Bankrupt flash memory chipmaker Spansion will sell its mainland operations to Taiwan-based Powertech Technology for US$31 million in cash, Reuters reported. The US-based firm competes with Toshiba and Samsung to produce flash memory cards which retain data even when power is switched off. It declared bankruptcy in March, and is offloading four manufacturing facilites in China, including a plant in Suzhou that employs about 565 workers, according to a statement by the company. It plans to use the cash for reorganization and to switch to an outsourced manufacturing model. The sale has yet to be approved by a US bankruptcy court.