ASM International shareholder proposes changes to company's management, supervisory boards

By Lisa Kerner

Charlotte, N.C., March 31 - ASM International NV said company shareholder Hermes Focus Asset Management put forth a number of proposals for inclusion on the agenda at ASM's annual meeting on May 21.

Hermes Focus is seeking:

• To dismiss all five members of the supervisory board not up for re-election;

• To dismiss chief executive officer Chuck del Prado as a member of the management board;

• To appoint David Wang, Nicholas Miller and Seitaro Ishii as supervisory board members; and

• To appoint Farhad Moghadam as a member of the management board.

The company proposed the appointment of Dr. Ulrich Schumacher to the supervisory board to replace Berend Brix, who is stepping down on May 21. Schumacher is the CEO and president of Grace Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. in Shanghai.

ASM said it will also propose the re-election of Dr. Johan Danneels as a member of the supervisory board.

Paul van den Hoek, chairman of the supervisory board, and del Prado don't believe the proposals are in the best interests of ASM International, its shareholders and other stakeholders, according to a company news release.

van den Hoek and del Prado said they have the strategy and management in place to deliver value to shareholders and will "forcefully" make their case to shareholders prior to the annual meeting.

ASM said it will detail steps in its plans to achieve peer group operating margin performance for the front-end in 2009.

Bilthoven, Netherlands-based ASM designs and manufactures equipment and materials used to produce semiconductor devices.

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