Mosaid to Hedges: Drop Dead!

Memory-chip maker Mosaid Technologies Inc.has rejected a dissenting U.S. shareholder's demand that it immediately put itself on the auction block and warned Wednesday it's ready for a fight if that's what Loeb Partners Corp. wants.

In a letter to Loeb Partners, a New York City hedge fund that owns about eight per cent of Mosaid's stock, the company's board said a "prompt sale of the company ... forced by a publicly dissenting shareholder demand and in a publicly disclosed process, is not in the best interest of our shareholders."

The letter was in response to a Loeb Partners letter last week asserting that Mosaid's senior management has resisted its plan to maximize share value and calling on the current board to put the company up for speedy sale or face a shareholder revolt.

While Mosaid is open to a possible sale, that is only one of a number of options being evaluated by a special committee of its board, wrote director Thomas Csathy, and the Ottawa-based firm is "prepared, if necessary, to engage in a proxy contest to confirm the support of our shareholders."

Michael Emanuel, a spokesman for Loeb Partners, declined comment.

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