TPG and China's Hony Capital are jointly bidding for Elpida Memory which means the troubled Japanese chip maker could be owned off-shore.

TPG and Hony Capital jointly bid in the first round of the auction and are expected to submit a joint bid in the second round, which is due to close on April 27. South Korea's Hynix said a week ago that it had submitted a preliminary bid proposal for Elpida.

Elpida filed for bankruptcy protection in late February in the largest corporate failure among the nation's manufacturers. The company makes DRAM.