Related Articles
Top Stories
Feb 13 2012 12:15
Miner Xstrata says it has brought forward maintenance on two furnaces to assist Eskom to save power.
Feb 13 2012 10:43
Although jobs were created, the economy is still 420 000 jobs short of the peak employment level before the 2009 global financial crisis, says Adcorp.
Feb 13 2012 07:58
Greek lawmakers have approved a new round of drastic austerity measures after a long day of street battles between police and protesters left dozens injured.
Seoul - Samsung said on Wednesday it has withdrawn a $26 a share bid to acquire SanDisk, but suggested it was still interested in buying the US flash memory card maker at a lower price.
In a letter dated and released on Wednesday, Samsung Vice Chairperson and CEO Lee Yoon-woo informed SanDisk's board that "we are no longer interested in acquiring SanDisk at $26 a share."
The letter said the offer was being withdrawn "after nearly six months of efforts to pursue a transaction with no meaningful progress."
A spokesperson for Milpitas, California-based SanDisk said Samsung's announcement came despite SanDisk having outlined a path for further discussions of the offer.
Samsung never contacted SanDisk regarding the proposal after SanDisk's board wrote a letter to Samsung on September 15, the spokesperson said. The letter stated Samsung's board determined the $5.85bn takeover bid was "inadequate in multiple respects."
Suwon, South Korea-based Samsung had said the offer was "full and fair." SanDisk had called it "opportunistic."
Growing uncertainties
"We believe this raises questions about the seriousness of Samsung's offer and the real motivation behind it," the SanDisk spokesperson said of Samsung's withdrawal. The spokesperson asked not to be named because the company's official response had not yet been released.
Samsung spokesperson James Chung said that a deal could still be done.
"The point is at the moment SanDisk has been reluctant to begin serious discussion about the M&A issue," he said.
SanDisk is the world's largest supplier of flash storage card products. Samsung is the world's largest manufacturer of NAND flash memory chips used in digital devices such as cameras and music players.
In his letter, Lee told SanDisk that Samsung had determined that acquiring the company amid what he called "growing uncertainties in your business" went against "obligations to our own shareholders."
Lee cited SanDisk's third-quarter earnings results and its relationship with Japan's Toshiba as points of concern.
SanDisk announced on Monday it had posted a loss of $155m in the third quarter on a drop in revenue as excess inventory forced it to cut prices.
The company said earlier that day it would sell to Toshiba, a Samsung rival, about 30% of the manufacturing capacity of their joint ventures.
Shares in Samsung Electronics rose 0.2% to 520 000 won ($383) in late morning trading in Seoul.
- AP