ASMI, shareholders to put court case on hold-paper
AMSTERDAM, June 23 (Reuters) - Dutch chip equipment maker ASM International (ASMI.AS) and activist investors plan to put a court battle on hold to give management time to negotiate with interested buyers, a newspaper reported on Monday.
Dutch financial daily Het Financieele Dagblad said the parties had, however, not yet agreed on specifics, with British pension fund manager Hermes, one of the activist shareholders, pushing for a concrete deadline at the end of the summer.
A Dutch court had given the struggling company and its investors, who are trying to sack Chief Executive Chuck del Prado, until Monday to resolve their differences or face a ruling on ASMI's poison pill.
In the meantime, U.S. rival Applied Materials (AMAT.O) and private equity firm Francisco Partners approached ASMI over the sale of key units for up to $800 million. ASMI rejected this approach on Friday as too low.
ASMI shares have soared about 24 percent since Applied Materials first approached the company in early June.
The Dutch company has been under pressure from activist shareholders for more than two years, sparked by years of losses at ASMI's "front end" unit that makes machines for the early stages of chip manufacturing. (Reporting by Niclas Mika; Editing by Rory Channing)
