Seeking M&A opportunity in Non-memory Chip Sector
Samsung Electronics vice chairman Lee Jae-yong is expected to attend the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference scheduled for July. He is expected to attend the conference for the first time in six years and visit the United States for the first time since November last year.
According to industry sources, he will seek an M&A opportunity in the non-memory chip sector at the conference. Samsung Electronics is aiming to beat TSMC and become the leader of the industry by 2030 and M&A is essential to that end. In this regard, the company is going to invest 450 trillion won for five years to come. The vice chairman had a meeting with Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon on May 21 and Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger on May 30.
In addition, the vice chairman is expected to meet with U.S. government personnel during his stay in the United States. U.S. President Joe Biden visited Samsung Electronics’ plant in Pyeongtaek, South Korea on May 20. Earlier, in March this year, the White House invited Samsung Electronics to its semiconductor supply chain-related meeting. The vice chairman is expected to check the construction of Samsung Electronics’ foundry in Taylor, Texas as well.
The global business conference in Idaho started in 1983. Amazon’s acquisition of the Washington Post in 2013, Disney’s acquisition of ABC, and so on started from this conference. In 2014, the vice chairman of Samsung Electronics and Apple CEO Tim Cook met at the conference and set the stage for smartphone litigation discontinuation outside the United States.
The vice chairman’s first participation in the conference was in 2002, when he was a managing director. From 2002 to 2016, he attended it almost every year. According to him, it is one of his most important business trips. He is the only Korean invited to it this year.