The tit-for-tat continues in the push by hedge fund Obrem Capital Management LLC to replace the board at analog chipmaker Micrel Inc. [MCRL]. Tuesday morning Micrel's board issued a letter to shareholders that essentially described Obrem as self-interested and clueless.

Arguing that Micrel has grown revenue in 24 of the past 29 years and consistently has outpaced the growth of the overall analog chip industry, the letter attempts to pick apart Obrem's charges. "We believe OCM's statements about Micrel's cost structure and operating margins reflect their lack of in-depth knowledge about the industry and that their filings contain factual errors and inconsistencies," the letter said.

Micrel's board also described Obrem's proposed slate as having "very limited semiconductor industry and operating experience." That might be a bit of an overstatement, as the hedge fund's nominees include Bill Bradford, the former vice president of sales at Freescale Semiconductor, and Eric Gomberg, a former chip analyst with Thomas Weisel Partners now at Obrem.

Shares of Micrel were up slightly at $9.32 in afternoon trading Tuesday. - Olaf de Senerpont Domis

See April 1 letter from Micrel via Yahoo! Finance
See March 26 post from Tech Confidential