Nov. 12--A Qimonda spokesman yesterday said the company is looking for buyers.

"We are looking for strategic or financial partners," Qimonda AG spokesman Ralph Heinrich said, "but before a deal has been closed, we will not be commenting."

He would not comment on whether the company was in talks with potential buyers.

The news comes after the New York Stock Exchange warned that its listing is in jeopardy.

Infineon Technologies, which spun off Qimonda in 2006, owns 77.5 percent of the chip maker and is looking to sell its stake.

"The best solution would be if we had one strategic investor to partner with Qimonda to take over shares from Infineon," Heinrich said from Munich.

The company last month announced a series of layoffs, plant closures and other changes worldwide to turn the company around. That included 1,200 layoffs at the company's plant in eastern Henrico County.

The stock has continued to fall and yesterday closed at 14 cents, down from 52-week high of $8.89 last November.

The average share price of Qimonda stock has been below $1 for more than a month, prompting an NYSE warning on its failure to meet listing requirements. If the company is not able to raise its stock price to an average of at least $1 for 30 consecutive trading days by May 7, trading could be suspended and the stock could be delisted.

Last year, the NYSE delisted 21 companies for cause. Through October of this year, the exchange has halted trading for 25 companies. Six of those cases occurred last month, according to NYSE.

"The situation is not good," said NYSE's regulation spokesman, Scott Peterson.

If Qimonda is forced to trade over the counter or in a way that limits trading, that could scare off investors, said Phil Umansky, an associate accounting professor at Virginia Union University's Sydney Lewis School of Business.

"It makes the stock less attractive," Umansky said. "It's almost like buying a house and not knowing when you'll be able to sell it on the market."

The Germany-based company makes memory chips used in computers, games and phones but has been losing money since the second fiscal quarter of 2007. Chip prices began to fall because the market was loaded with product.

"The company is at serious risk given the present status of the memory market combined with the status of the credit market," said Doug Freedman, an analyst with American Technology Research Inc. in San Francisco. "I wouldn't be surprised if the company actually needs government intervention to survive."

On Monday, the NYSE suspended trading of consumer electronics retailer Circuit City Stores Inc., which is based in Henrico County. Last month, it suspended trading of Richmond-based packaging company Chesapeake Corp. Both now trade over the counter.

Contact Emily C. Dooley at (804) 649-6016 or edooley@timesdispatch.com.

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