 In what is building into a bitter fight to regain control of Atmel Corporation, former founder and head of the chip manufacturer George Perlegos, ousted in a scandal over expenses, has urged shareholders to oust certain members of the board and cited strategy failings that are limiting investor shareholder value.
In a key revision to the current Atmel executive plan of selling its automotive devices fab in Heilbronn, Germany, Perlegos wants the fab saved as he believes it is an essential part of Atmel's automotive business. In an open letter to shareholders he said: "I believe the far better strategy would be for the company to sell its automotive business in Germany as a stand-alone business, which I believe could be sold for approximately $400 million to $500 million after an appropriate restructuring. The automotive business' products have relatively long life-spans, often on the order of seven to ten years, and customers purchasing the products depend on the stability of that business and the expectation that they will not have to undertake the cost of re-qualifying their products as a result of a change in fabrication facility by Atmel. By endeavoring to sell the fabrication facility separate and apart from the entirety of the automotive business, I believe that current management may be harming customer relationships and destroying the possibility of a sale of the entire automotive business at a much more attractive price." Atmel had announced in December, 2006 that fabs in North Tyneside, United Kingdom and Heilbronn, Germany would be sold, allowing remaining facilities to reach better utilization levels, improving costs, while seeking a ‘fab-lite' strategy. Shareholders are expected to vote at a special meeting later in May on executives appointed to the Board, with Perlegos putting forward his own candidates.
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