China Electronics Reportedly In Preliminary Talks To Buy Atmel

(RTTNews) - China Electronics Corp., the nation's largest state-owned information technology company, is in preliminary talks to buy U.S.-based Atmel Corp. (ATML), Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter.

The report indicated that China Electronics is discussing a bid for Atmel at about $8.50 per share and the two sides are negotiating.

There's no guarantee a deal will get done, and talks may still fall apart. The thin premium being discussed and regulatory scrutiny that would come with a Chinese buyer raise the risks that a deal won't materialize, the report said.

A combination of China Electronics with Atmel would probably be subject to approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. There is also the possibility that other suitors could emerge and an agreement could be reached with a different company, the report said.

Atmel Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and sells semiconductor integrated circuit products primarily in the United States, Asia, Europe, South Africa, and Central and South America. It operates in four segments: Microcontroller, Nonvolatile Memory, Automotive, and Multi-Market and Other.

ATML closed Wednesday's trading at $8.18, down $0.02 or 0.24%.