Soitec Has Record Jump on Speculation of Takeover Bid by Intel

 Soitec SA, whose silicon is used in the chips that power Sony Corp. and Microsoft Corp. game consoles, had a record gain in Paris trading on speculation that Intel Corp. may make a takeover bid.

Soitec jumped 1.54 euros, or 55 percent, to 4.34 euros at the close of trading in the French capital. That's the steepest increase since the company's initial public offering in February 1999. Soitec, based in Bernin in the French Alps, has a market value of 369 million euros ($479 million).

Speculation of a linkup with Santa Clara-based Intel, the world's largest chipmaker, was posted on the investment-news Web site Boursorama.com in late trading hours in Paris. Steve Babureck, an analyst at Exane BNP Paribas in Paris, said the notion isn't new and a takeover of Soitec isn't likely.

Soitec is a developer of so-called silicon-on-insulator technology, which is used for tasks such as cutting atom-thin layers of substrates. The patents related to its technology belong to Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique, a state-owned researcher, in an arrangement designed to prevent a takeover of the French company, said Babureck.

The patent ownership issue is ``a poison pill on Soitec,'' he said. Babureck rates the shares ``outperform.''

Soitec spokesman Olivier Brice said he wasn't aware of a reason for the share price move today.

Intel spokesman Chuck Mulloy said the company wouldn't comment on speculation.