International Rectifier Trading Above Acquisition Bid

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Investors continue to indicate they believe Vishay Intertechnology Inc. is offering too little for El Segundo power management chipmaker International Rectifier Corp.

International Rectifier shares on Monday closed down 15 cents, less than 1 percent, to $22.34 on the New York Stock Exchange. That’s still 5 percent higher than the $21.22 a share that Malvern, Pa.-based Vishay offered on Friday to acquire the company.

The unsolicited $1.6 billion cash takeover offer from the semiconductor maker was a 13 percent premium over International Rectifier’s Aug. 7 closing price. But shares jumped nearly 20 percent to $22.49 on Friday, and analysts said Vishay may have to raise its price. In a response to the offer, International Rectifier urged shareholders to give its directors time to evaluate the proposal.

In April 2007, Vishay bought International Rectifier’s power-control systems business, but International Rectifier noted in its quarterly report earlier this month that Vishay now is calling for the sale to be rescinded.

Vishay has accused the company it now wants to buy of overstating financial forecasts for part of the business it acquired. “International Rectifier intends to vigorously dispute and defend these claims,” International Rectifier said in its Friday response to the acquisition bid.

Prior to Vishay’s announcement, International Rectifier shares had lost half of their value over the last year as the company struggled to recover from an accounting scandal. A month after the Vishay deal closed, International Rectifier disclosed accounting irregularities in May 2007 that led to the resignation of its founder and then chief executive.

An investigation showed that a Japanese subsidiary was creating orders that artificially inflated revenues. The company recently finished restating its results.

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