Atmel wafer fab sale to LFoundry approved

SAN JOSE, USA: The proposed sale of Atmel Corporations’ wafer fabrication operation in Rousset, France, to LFoundry GmbH has been approved by employees at the facility as well as by the Rousset Works Council. The sale is likely to close in the second quarter.

At present, over 700 workers are employed at the Rousset fab, which makes Atmel Corporation’s high-performance ASIC, memory and microcontroller devices.

In 2009, the silicon foundry LFoundry had signed a deal to buy Atmel Corporation’s wafer fab in Rousset.

Atmel Corporation, based in San Jose, California, United States, has been attempting to sell the fab in Rousset for some time, as a part of its move to divest non-core businesses and become a pure microcontroller player.

In a statement, Atmel Corporation said that, based on the proposed terms of the sale of the French fab, it expects to record a non-cash impairment charge not exceeding $200 million in the fourth quarter of 2009. Further terms of the deal were not revealed.

In accordance with the law of France, Atmel presented the proposed acquisition of LFoundry GmbH to the representatives of its employee of the Works Council in Rousset.