Sandisk rejects Samsung bid

SANDISK HAS REJECTED an unsolicited takeover bid from Samsung Electronics according to reports.

The memory making company's CEO Eli Harari explained that his company was ready to discuss a takeover, but noted that the $26 per share offer was, " opportunistically timed at the trough of an industry-wide downturn". Harari also suggested that the proposal might have been a, "calculated negotiating ploy" designed to gain the advantage in an ongoing patent-licensing dispute between the two companies.

According to Samsung Vice Chairman Yoon-Woo, the bid would help to, " insulate [Sandisk] shareholders from the risk of market conditions that have severely deteriorated and are expected to remain challenging".

Indeed, Sandisk stock, which had previously traded at the $30 dollar range, has dropped by nearly half to $15 in recent months. However, shares were up more than 50 per cent in after-hours trading after news of Samsung's offer was made public.

Samsung apparently believes that a potential acquisition of Sandisk would position the flash drive as a superior technology for the delivery and storage of content.

The South Korean electronics giant has noted that the California company would be operated as a separate subsidiary and pledged to refrain from laying off workers. µ

L’Inq
ComputerWorld