The much-needed capital by the world's second-ranking computer memory chips manufacturer, Hynix Semiconductor Inc, has been secured by the way of its sale of $305 million worth of packaging and testing equipment to the almost-done back-end joint venture with the Wuxi Industrial Development Group in China.

The new Hynix-Wuxi joint venture will provide chip assembly services for the NAND flash memory chips, as well as low power mobile DRAM chips manufactured at Hynix-Numonyx Semiconductor in Wuxi, which began production in 2006.

In a statement, the loss-plagued Hynix said that the capital raised will not only help the company pay greater attention to its the core business of front-end manufacturing, but also enable it to extend its R&D investment "to the fullest."

Saying that the venture, which will also bring about lowered production costs, the South Korean company added that the move is part of the company's ongoing endeavors to "boost financial efficiency" amid the two-year downturn that spelled losses for firms in the memory chip market.

The Hynix-Wuxi venture underlines DRAM-makers' cash raising efforts - DRAM prices started plunging two years back owing to a chip glut, with the global recession further hurt DRAM prices by adversely affecting the sales of the products.