SK hynix said Friday it has signed a deal to acquire part of U.S. data storage firm Violin Memory to enhance its presence in the fast-growing market for flash memory devices.

Shares of the world’s No. 2 memory chipmaker rose to a 52-week high of 44,150 won on expectations that the deal would sharpen its edge in high-value-added semiconductors.

Violin said SK hynix has agreed to pay about $23 million in cash to take over its computer expansion card division based on PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express).

The deal will allow SK hynix to secure Violin’s PCIe intellectual properties.

“This purchase will enable us to respond to growing demands for high-value-added solid-state drives for servers in the NAND flash markets,” SK hynix said.

“The latest deal reflects SK hynix’s continued efforts to boost its NAND flash competitiveness.’’

It has not been decided whether the Violin’s unit with 30 employees will be merged into San Jose-based SK hynix America or California-based LAMD, which the company acquired in June 2012.

Following its purchase of LAMD, the company set up a flash solution design center in Bundang in September of the same year. The center has teamed up with LAMD in developing controller hardware design and software.

Last October, the company established an R&D center, Flash Solutions Taiwan, to strengthen global R&D competence and customer support.

In response to growing demands for mobile devices, cloud computing and big data, the importance of high-performance chip solutions such as SSD has been on the rise in the NAND flash markets. Research firm iSuppli said the demand for SSD will soar by 40 percent next year.

The NAND flash markets will also grow 4 percent to $44.6 billion in 2017 from $31.7 billion this year, according to Gartner.

By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)