SiliconBeat

Sirf Technology Holdings, the troubled supplier of chips and software used in global position systems  that agreed in February to be acquired by CSR, a British supplier of Bluetooth connectivity tools, reached a tentative settlement last week with various parties that filed lawsuits related to the merger.

The plaintiffs had accused the company’s board of directors of Read the rest of this entry »

Diosado Banatao has decided its time he accept a salary for his role as interim chief executive at Sirf Technology, the troubled supplier of chips and software that last month announced its agreement to be acquired by CSR, the British supplier of Bluetooth connectivity tools.

Banatao, a Sirf co-founder and chairman of its board, became interim CEO last April following the surprise resignation of Read the rest of this entry »

Sirf Technology, the troubled supplier of chips and software used in global position systems  that has gone through three rounds of layoffs this year as its sales collapsed, said it has agreed to be acquired by CSR, a British supplier of Bluetooth connectivity tools.

Under the terms of the deal, Sirf shareholders will get Read the rest of this entry »

Sirf Technology Holdings said that last week it approved a “corporate cost reduction and restructuring plan that will include a reduction in force,” which, together with the recent spin off of its Swedish subsidiary to its managers and employees, will result in a drop in “headcount” for the company of approximately 25 percent. The moves are being made “in view of continued economic uncertainties and expected continuing consumer demand weakness in 2009.

It is the third round of layoffs the maker of GPS-related semiconductors has announced this year. In March, it Read the rest of this entry »

Deutsche Bank, which had been the single largest shareholder of Sirf Technology Holdings with about 5.5 million shares as of March 3, reduced its holdings in the San Jose maker of chips and software used for global-positioning applications by more than 99 percent, according to a filing the investment bank made with the SEC Monday.

Sirf shares sank to an all-time low last month in the wake of a ruling by a judge with the U.S. International Trade Commission that found it had violated patents held by Broadcom.

Sirf has struggled with slowing sales this year that have caused it to cut workers twice since March when the company’s co-founder, Diosdado Banatao, returned to serve as interim chief executive.

Joseph LaValle submitted his resignation as vice president in charge of sales at Sirf Technology on Aug. 19, which will take effect Sept. 9, according to a regulatory filing Thursday.

LaValle, a former Intel executive, joined Sirf in 2003. He is leaving “to pursue other interests.” He becomes the second executive to quit in the past month, after the company’s corporate controller and principal financial officer submitted his resignation “to pursue other interests” on July 31.

Shares of Sirf Technology sank to an all-time low Aug. 11 after the maker of chips and software for global-positioning applications lost an initial ruling by a judge with the U.S. International Trade Commission that found Sirf violated six patents held by Broadcom.

Shares of Sirf Technology, the maker of chips and software for global-positioning applications, sank to an all-time low Monday in the wake of late-breaking news on Friday that Sirf came out on the short end of an initial ruling by a judge with the U.S. International Trade Commission that found Sirf violated six patents held by Broadcom.

Sirf has struggled with slowing sales this year that have caused it to cut workers twice since March when the company’s co-founder, Diosdado Banatao, returned to serve as interim chief executive.

Sirf shares touched an all-time low of $2.15 Monday, before ending the day at $2.44, a new closing low. They have lost 90 percent of their value so far this year.

Citing “continued economic uncertainties and expected continuing demand weakness in the second half of 2008,” Sirf Technology announced “further reductions in force” in its current quarter, according to its earnings release filed with the SEC today.

The company said it would layoff from between 7 percent to 9 percent of its workforce before this quarter is over. The job cuts come on top of a Read the rest of this entry »

Shares of Sirf Technology Holdings surged Friday following the news that co-founder Diosdado Banato would take over as interim chief executive following the resignation of Michael Canning “effective immediately”, the company announced Thursday after regular stock trading closed.

Shares of Sirf, which held its initial public offering in in 2000 at $12 each. They plunged in February after the maker of chips used in global positioning systems forecast sales that fell short of Wall Street expectation, falling by more than half to $8.91. They closed Thursday at $5.47 and jumped to $6.34 around noon, PDT.

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