Chipmaker Atmel has denied claims by its former Chief Executive George Perlegos that its new restructuring plan will not work. Perlegos said that the plan, which was announced in December will fail to steer the company toward greater growth.
Perlegos, who wants to take control of Atmel's board at a May 18 shareholders' meeting, has unveiled a plan for remaking the struggling chip maker. Atmel noted that Perlegos controlled the company for more than 20 years and that from 2001 to 2005, in the last five years of his rule it lost $1.2 billion.
If he manages it, he will push Atmel's high-growth, high-margin businesses such as microcontrollers. He wants to spin off of the company's smart-card business, sell its automotive chip business and kill off its NOR flash memory business.
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