Atmel to file delayed SEC forms in June

By Colleen Taylor -- Electronic News, 3/7/2007

Atmel Corp. has set the date for filing several forms to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)  that have been delayed for months by an ongoing internal stock options investigation.

The San Jose-based company said today in a statement that it anticipates filing its annual report on form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2006 to the SEC by early June. The company added that it expects to file its quarterly reports on form 10-Q for the quarters ended June 30 and Sept. 30 2006, as well as March 31, 2007 "as soon as practicable" after filing its 2006 annual report on form 10-K.

The filings will likely be bad news for the company's bottom line. In October, Atmel said its pending investigation had indeed uncovered evidence of illegal backdating  that will likely necessitate an as-yet-undisclosed amount of monetary charges in its upcoming restatements.

Atmel may have already begun bracing itself for hefty fines. In December, the company announced plans  to implement a set of "strategic restructuring initiatives" that include selling two fabs and axing 1,300 jobs that is expected to eventually save the company as much as $95 million annually.  Indeed, recent history shows that the backdating charge could be quite sizable. In January, Broadcom Corp.'s restatements to the SEC cost the company a whopping $2.2 billion in backdating-related charges.

Even aside from the stock options woes, 2006 was a rough year for Atmel. In August, George Perlegos made a tumultuous exit from his posts as CEO, president and chairman of the board. Perlegos had been asked to step down from the company's board and his position as chair after being fired from Atmel's president and CEO post for allegedly misusing company travel funds. Perlegos quickly fired back at Atmel with a vitriolic public letter, announcing his resignation from the board and filing suit against five of the board's directors for his "unlawful and improper" termination. In the end, however, the court sided with Atmel, affirming that the terminations of Perlegos and others ousted in the travel funds snafu were indeed justified.
 
For more news on the industry-wide stock option backdating investigation, see "Taking Stock: The Unfolding Stock Option Investigation."