LFoundry plans to buy Atmel’s wafer fab in France

SAN JOSE: LFoundry GmbH, the upstart silicon foundry, based in Munich, Germany, is planning to buy Atmel Corporation’s wafer fab located Rousset, France.

For some time now, Atmel Corporation, headquartered in San Jose, California, the United States, has been attempting to sell its wafer fab in Rousset as part of an ongoing process to dissociate itself from non-core businesses and focus only on microcontroller.

In a statement, Atmel Corporation said that, based on the terms of the sale of its fab in France, it expects a non-cash impairment charge not exceeding $200 million in the fourth quarter of 2009. The company did not divulge more details about the terms of the deal.

Atmel said that, as per the French law, it has presented the planned acquisition to the employee-representatives of the Works Council in Rousset, France. The Works Council, Atmel added, is likely to give its opinion on the transaction in the first quarter of 2010.

If the approval of the Works Council is obtained, Atmel Corporation said it will seek authorization from its board of directors to sign a definitive agreement with LFoundry GmbH.

Michael Lehnert, chief executive of LFoundry GmbH, said in a statement that if the plan to buy Atmel’s wafer fab in Rousset materializes, the combined company will be the biggest analog-signal and mixed-signal pure play foundry in Europe.