- The DOJ is "vetting a buyer of assets to be divested" by Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) and Tokyo Electron (OTCPK:TOELF) to win approval for their still-pending merger, TheStreet reports. The DOJ issued a second request for information back in Dec. 2013, three months after the deal was first announced.
- Meanwhile, the Korea Times has reported Samsung, originally opposed to the deal, is urging Korean regulators to approve it after forming a new partnership with AMAT related to next-gen memory chip technologies. Korean approval is deemed likely to arrive "sometime in March or April."
- Chinese and Japanese regulators also still have to vet the deal, which stands to create an industry giant. Morningstar observed last year Applied/Tokyo will have a 40% or greater share in six chip equipment markets.
- TheStreet observes Tokyo, whose shareholders will own 32% of the merged company, still traded at a 10% discount to the merger price as of Monday.