Micron Bids for Japan’s Bankrupt Elpida (MU, INTC)

Japanese DRAM maker Elpida Memory filed for bankruptcy last month, and the company has now decided to find a new management team to run the company. A report in Taiwan’s Digitimes cites speculation that Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) has bid $1.5 billion for the failed company. Though not called a “stalking horse” bid, that is how Micron’s bid is described.

Digitimes also reports that Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC), Toshiba, Globalfoundries, and others are considering making offers for Elpida. The first round of bidding is expected later this month, with a final round due in April.

The report from Digitimes suggests that some serious effort may be put forward by Japan to retain Elpida in the Japanese tent. The country is interested in maintaining a presence in the next big development in semiconductor manufacturing — integrating CPU, GPU, NAND flash, and mobile DRAM chips into one chip.