Atmel selling Grenoble site for $140M

July 13, 2006 – In the latest step to consolidate manufacturing operations and refocus on core technologies, Atmel Corp. said it has agreed to sell its subsidiary and wafer manufacturing facility in Grenoble, France, for approximately $140 million in cash to e2v Technologies plc, a UK-based manufacturer of electronic tube and sensor components and subsystems.

Technologies included in the deal that are manufactured at the Grenoble site include Atmel’s image sensors and aerospace-qualified microprocessors, but the company will retain rights to its fingerprint scanning technology. The deal is expected to close in Atmel’s fiscal third quarter ending in September.

Last fall Atmel agreed to sell its manufacturing facility and related foundry activities in Nantes, France, for an undisclosed amount to local high-tech corporation XbyBus, which aims to spend 30 million euros (US$35.9 million) over the next two years to ramp up its component-manufacturing activities, particularly in wafer production with proprietary high-vacuum process. Atmel will maintain other activities in Nantes for designing microcontrollers for automotive and industrial markets.

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