SAN JOSE, Calif., Feb. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Atmel(R) Corporation today issued the following statement in response to the announcement that Microchip Technology Inc. is terminating its consideration of a potential transaction with Atmel and is withdrawing the slate of directors it had previously nominated for election at Atmel's next annual meeting of shareholders:
With Microchip's withdrawal, we look forward to focusing exclusively on the continued execution of our transformation plan. Atmel's substantial microcontroller revenue growth, market share gains and gross profit improvement demonstrate the significant progress we are making on this plan. As announced on February 4, 2009, Atmel's microcontroller revenues grew 14% in 2008 and full year gross profit margins reached the highest level since 2000. As we enter the next phase of Atmel's transformation plan, we remain confident that we are on the right track to further enhance shareholder value.
About Atmel
Atmel is a worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of microcontrollers, advanced logic, mixed-signal, nonvolatile memory and radio frequency (RF) components. Leveraging one of the industry's broadest intellectual property (IP) technology portfolios, Atmel provides the electronics industry with complete system solutions focused on consumer, industrial, security, communications, computing and automotive markets.
Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking Statements
Information in this release regarding Atmel's forecasts, outlook, expectations and beliefs are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. All forward-looking statements included in this release are based upon information available to Atmel as of the date of this release, which may change, and we assume no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results could differ materially from our current expectations. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include general economic conditions, the impact of competitive products and pricing, timely design acceptance by our customers, timely introduction of new products and technologies, ability to ramp new products into volume production, industry wide shifts in supply and demand for semiconductor products, industry and/or Company overcapacity, effective and cost efficient utilization of manufacturing capacity, financial stability in foreign markets and the impact of foreign exchange rates, the ability to realize the anticipated benefits of our recent strategic transactions, restructuring plans and other initiatives in a timely manner or at all, unanticipated costs and expenses or the inability to identify expenses which can be eliminated, the market price of our common stock, unfavorable results of legal proceedings and other risks detailed from time to time in Atmel's SEC reports and filings, including our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007, filed on February 29, 2008, and our subsequent Form 10-Q reports. Atmel assumes no obligation and does not intend to update the forward-looking statements provided, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Investor Contact: Robert Pursel Director of Investor Relations 408-487-2677 Media Contact: Barrett Golden / Sharon Stern Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher 212-355-4449
