Asyst Technologies rejected two approaches by a private-equity firm seeking to buy the Fremont-based maker of semiconductor-production equipment, according to two people with knowledge of the offers. Los Angeles-based Gores Group told Asyst in December and again this month that it would consider paying as much as $6 a share, or about $298 million, according to the people, who asked not to be named because the approaches were private. The stock, which had declined 65 percent from a 2007 high of $7.40, jumped as much as 39 percent. Asyst’s board decided the price was too low and the company could make more money for shareholders over the longer term, the people said.
– Bloomberg News