ASM International NV (ASMI), a semiconductor equipment manufacturer and supplier, said Friday it rejected a combined unsolicited offer from Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT) and Francisco Partners for its entire front-end activities. The company said it believes "the offer significantly undervalues the front-end business and fails to reflect its future prospects."
The wide offer value range, the complex structure of the combined offer and the unclear terms of the partnership furthermore represent significant uncertainty and execution risks for the shareholders, employees and other stakeholders, the company added.
An indicative offer was made by Applied Materials in the range of US$400 million to US$500 million for the Atomic Layer Deposition and Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition business activities of the company. Francisco Partners indicated an initial value of US$225 million to US$300 million for the remaining front-end business activities, which include epitaxy and vertical furnaces.
The Bilthoven, the Netherlands-based company said after due and careful consideration the management and supervisory boards decided to reject the offer.
ASMI is trading down $0.06 or 0.18% at $32.46 on a volume of nearly 146 thousand shares.
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