SMSC investors sue to stop takeover by Microchip

SMSC investors sue to stop takeover by Microchip

SAN FRANCISCO—Investors in Standard Microsystems Corp. (SMSC) have filed two lawsuits in Delaware state court seeking to block the proposed $939 million acquisition of SMSC by Microchip Technology Inc., according to reports.

The investors who filed the suits claim that the acquisition does not sufficiently value SMSC, according to the reports.

According to a statement released last week by the Shareholders Foundation Inc., a professional portfolio monitoring service focusing on securities class action lawsuits, an investor filed suit last week against SMSC's directors seeking to block the acquisition, which values SMSC at $37 per share. A report by the Bloomberg news service last week identified the shareholder as Vladimir Gusinsky Living Trust.

According to Law360, a legal industry trade publication, a second SMSC investor has since filed a separate suit seeking to block the acquisition.

Microchip announced May 2 that it signed a definitive agreement to acquire SMSC for $37 per share, or about $939 million. The deal includes about $173 million of cash investments on SMSC's balance sheet, giving it an enterprise value of some $766 million.

Shares of SMSC closed at $36.45 in Nasdaq trading Monday (May 21). Shares of SMSC closed at $26.21 on May 1, the day before the acquisition was announced.
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