RDG Capital keen on Atmel takeover despite rebuff
Mon May 22, 2006
PHILADELPHIA, May 22 (Reuters) - Investment firm RDG Capital LLC on Monday said it remained interested in buying Atmel Corp. for $2.7 billion, despite a rejection by the microchip maker. RDG Capital said it wrote to Atmel on May 15 and initiated talks with Atmel Chairman George Perlegos about a proposal to buy the company for $5.50 a share in cash and preferred stock. Shares of Atmel, which makes microchips for cars, planes and communications devices, rose 54 cents, or 12.3 percent, to $4.92 in morning trading on Nasdaq. Atmel, based in San Jose, California, declined to comment. New York-based RDG Capital said Atmel responded on May 17, saying it believed it was better served as a public company. Despite that rejection, RDG Capital, a shareholder of Atmel since May 2005, said it remained interested in negotiating a potential acquisition of the company. RDG Capital said it is managed by a former executive of billionaire investor Carl Icahn's investment firm. Additional details were not immediately available. | 
