Western Digital Corp. will sell its Sarawak, Malaysia, substrate manufacturing facility to a subsidiary of Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, the hard drive manufacturing unit of Hitachi, Ltd.

The Sarawak, Malaysia, Substrate Manufacturing Facility of WD was acquired by the firms as part of its acquisition of Komag, Inc. in September 2007 at which WD manufactured its aluminum substrates for hard drive magnetic media.

We are very pleased that, rather than closing this plant, which was surplus to our needs, we have identified a qualified buyer who will continue to operate the facility, said John Coyne, president and chief executive officer of WD.

The deal is expected to closed this quarter but still subject to customary closing conditions. The employees of WD at the facility in Sarawak will become employees of the purchaser-Hitachi. Terms of the transaction on the deal were not disclosed.

WD worked closely with Hitachi GST, the government of Sarawak and its local agencies to create a solution that preserves operations at the Kuching location, as well as the jobs of the employees and those in supporting industries, which have a large impact on the local community.

According to WD, it will then continue to manufacture the majority of its magnetic media requirements at current facilities in Malaysia and source the balance of its media needs through its strategic external partners.

Electronics Manufacturing