Canadian memory chip designer Mosaid Technologies Inc. finally made a strategic move to focus on its core business, but it remains to be seen whether it will be enough to appease some restless shareholders.

The company on Monday said it would sell its memory controller and so-called PHY connection chip intellectual property to semiconductor design software maker Synopsys Inc. for $15 million. Back in September, the company announced the hiring of Morgan Stanley and CIBC World Markets to review strategic alternatives. That followed a letter from activist hedge fund Loeb Partners that asked the company to hire bankers and threatened a proxy fight to replace Mosaid directors.

For Silicon Valley's Synopsys, the deal represents another incremental addition to its burgeoning IP library. For Mosaid, the sale isn't exactly a major strategic shift, but it does enable the company to focus more tightly on patent licensing in the advanced memory arena. Shares of the company climbed 2.2% on the Toronto Stock Exchange in late afternoon trading. —Olaf de Senerpont Domis

See September 2006 story from The Deal  

Tags: m&a, semiconductors