Ramius recommends that Actel sell or shrink flash segment

By Lisa Kerner

Charlotte, N.C., Nov. 13 - Actel Corp. shareholders led by Ramius LLC suggested the company refocus its efforts on its core end markets and curtail spending and management effort on products outside of those core markets.

Ramius made its comments in a Nov. 12 letter to Actel that was included in a schedule 13D/A filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In the letter, Ramius, citing the challenges and negative returns to date associated with Actel's flash business, asked the company to consider doing one of the following:

• Reduce expenses in the flash business and focus only on core end markets where flash as a standalone entity can produce profitable results;

• Explore a joint venture opportunity with a large competitor who can offer research and development and marketing support; or

• Sell the flash business.

Actel acknowledged receipt of Ramius' letter and said it will carefully consider the shareholder's suggestions.

According to a form 8-K filed with the SEC, Actel has had preliminary conversations with Ramius and expects to continue the dialogue. The company's board of directors and management team remain committed to enhancing value for all shareholders, the filing said.

In its filing, Ramius also reported the purchase of an additional 252,270 shares of Actel between Oct. 15 and Nov. 12 at prices from $8.8266 to $11.5201 each.

The shareholder owns approximately 2 million shares, or 7.9%, of the Mountain View, Calif.-based company's outstanding stock.

Actel designs, develops and markets flash- and antifuse-based field-programmable gate arrays.

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