Infineon Settles Qimonda Case for €800m

Qimonda’s insolvency administrator and Infineon Technologies have finally put an end to nearly 15 years of legal disputes by reaching a final agreement with a payment of €800m. The deal revolved around the value of the assets of the memory business that Infineon spun out in 2006 as Qimonda. At its peak, Qimonda employed approximately 13,500 people globally and stood as one of the leading memory chip manufacturers in the world.

Despite going public on the New York Stock Exchange in August 2006, Qimonda faced insolvency in January 2009, leading to a prolonged legal battle over the underfunding of the balance sheet and difference liability that had been ongoing since 2010. The lawsuit filed in 2010 before the Munich I Regional Court by the insolvency administrator alleged that the memory business brought in by Infineon Technologies was not as valuable as claimed.

Following a report submitted by an expert appointed by the court in January 2024, which indicated a negative value for the contributed business areas, both parties raised objections. Infineon, on its part, argued that the liquidation value of the assets contributed would meet the required values for the contributions in kind, a point not covered in the report.

After intense settlement talks post the report presentation, a negotiated settlement was reached, resulting in a payment of €800m. However, the actual payment amount is slightly lower due to a partial settlement of €15m in 2014 being included. After deductions, Infineon will pay €753.5m to the insolvency estate of Qimonda AG, a move that has already been approved by the creditors' committee of Qimonda AG and the management board and supervisory board of Infineon Technologies AG.

With this settlement, the total amount paid by Infineon to the estate reaches around €1bn, with creditors benefiting from revenues generated from Qimonda’s patent portfolio, which comprised thousands of patents and patent applications worldwide. These intellectual property rights were crucial to the semiconductor, computer, and telecommunications industries, with many patents licensed to major market players before the insolvency.

Legal disputes arose both domestically and internationally over the licensing rights during the insolvency period, with former license holders such as Samsung, IBM, Intel, and others asserting that their rights remained intact despite the insolvency. The patent portfolio was eventually marketed through a licensing campaign, resulting in revenues of approximately €100m. Infineon Technologies emerged as the highest bidder in an international sales process and acquired the patent portfolio, in addition to repurchasing the Qimonda memory fab in Dresden in 2011.