X-bit Labs reports SK Hynix has pulled out of an upcoming auction to buy bankrupt memory maker Elpida. As a result, only two candidates remain: Micron Technology and a joint bid by Hiny Capital and Hony Capital, two private equity funds.

SK Hynix has reportedly decided to pull out from the incoming auction for insolvent Elpida Memory, leaving only two potential buyers for the troubled maker of dynamic random access memory: Micron Technology and a group of private equity funds.

The acquisition of Elpida Memory and its assets, including technologies and a DRAM plant in Hiroshima, Japan, would not "strategically benefit" the company, SK Group's chairman Chey Tae-won told reporters after a board meeting without elaborating, Reuters news-agency reports. Previously SK Hynix indicated that the company was investigating Elpida's financial reports.