Russia's Sistema still pursuing Infineon, says report

LONDON — Infineon has denied it is in discussions with diversified Russian holding company AFK Sistema, according to a report, in a rerun of denials from September 2009 and earlier.

Another report has said that Sistema is now calling in heavyweight Russian political support to help it obtain a 29 percent stake in Infineon.

Sistema is a supplier of telecommunications and computer equipment and its Sitronics subsidiary in turn owns Russian chip manufacturer Mikron.

According to a Financial Times Deutschland report from Sunday (June 28), Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Premier Vladimir Putin have been in talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel pressing for Sistema to be allowed take a 29 percent stake in Infineon.

Merkel has agreed to try and facilitate talks through her economic adviser Jens Weidmann but without putting pressure on Infineon, according to the Financial Times Deutschland report.

"We are not in talks with Sistema," a Dow Jones report, quoted an Infineon company spokesman as saying.

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