Atmel and Morgan Stanley discuss ‘strategic alternatives’
Atmel has hired investment bank Morgan Stanley to evaluate options – including a possible sale.
The asic chipmaker reported a loss of $24.4million in Q4, compared with a net profit of $1.71m for the same period a year earlier.
Atmel’s president and chief executive, Steven Lamb said: “Over the last year, we have taken decisive actions to improve and restructure nearly every aspect of Atmel’s operations. The exploration of strategic alternatives for our asic business is another step in Atmel’s ongoing transformation plans. Our asic business is a market leader in multiple segments, but is not a core component of our long term strategy to build a microcontroller based company.”
Atmel has sold or shut down several chip manufacturing facilities in the last year, as well as announcing plans to lose 11% of its North American workforce.
