Dave Savastano02.02.09
Spansion Inc. announced executive management changes as part of the company's previously announced plans to restructure the company and explore strategic alternatives for a sale or merger. Effective today, Dr. Bertrand Cambou has resigned as president and chief executive officer and has resigned from the Spansion Board of Directors. Dr. Boaz Eitan, an executive vice president and member of the board of directors, has been named interim president of Spansion. Dr. Cambou has agreed to provide consulting services to Spansion. The company is actively engaged in efforts to further strengthen its management team to support its strategic and restructuring initiatives and will report any decisions at a later time.
On January 15, 2009, Spansion announced it was exploring strategic alternatives for a sale or merger. The company also announced plans to restructure its balance sheet. The objective of these potential strategic alternatives is to build on Spansion's position as a leading supplier of NOR Flash memory by creating significantly greater scale and to provide Spansion's customers with a broader range of more cost-effective memory solutions.
"Spansion has a highly talented, global workforce, a significant leadership position in the NOR segment and strong relationships with nearly all the world's top consumer, automotive and wireless OEMs," said Dr. Eitan. "In addition, Spansion is the only company to have successfully commercialized charge-trapping technology, considered by many to be the future of the Flash memory industry. As president, I look forward to helping strengthen Spansion's financial and competitive position through a successful restructuring or strategic transaction."
Dr. Eitan, who will be based at Spansion's Sunnyvale, CA headquarters, brings more than 27 years of semiconductor research and management expertise to the company. In 1997, he founded Saifun Semiconductors Ltd., acquired by Spansion in early 2008, and is the inventor of Saifun NROM technology with 83 U.S. patents. Prior to Saifun, Dr. Eitan held various positions at WaferScale Integration Inc. and Intel Corp. Dr. Eitan holds a Ph.D. and a M.Sc. in applied physics and a B.Sc in mathematics and physics from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
"The board appreciates Dr. Cambou's hard work and dedication and thanks him for his important leadership during the past several years," said Dr. Eitan. "I look forward to working with him in his consulting capacity."
On January 15, 2009, Spansion announced it was exploring strategic alternatives for a sale or merger. The company also announced plans to restructure its balance sheet. The objective of these potential strategic alternatives is to build on Spansion's position as a leading supplier of NOR Flash memory by creating significantly greater scale and to provide Spansion's customers with a broader range of more cost-effective memory solutions.
"Spansion has a highly talented, global workforce, a significant leadership position in the NOR segment and strong relationships with nearly all the world's top consumer, automotive and wireless OEMs," said Dr. Eitan. "In addition, Spansion is the only company to have successfully commercialized charge-trapping technology, considered by many to be the future of the Flash memory industry. As president, I look forward to helping strengthen Spansion's financial and competitive position through a successful restructuring or strategic transaction."
Dr. Eitan, who will be based at Spansion's Sunnyvale, CA headquarters, brings more than 27 years of semiconductor research and management expertise to the company. In 1997, he founded Saifun Semiconductors Ltd., acquired by Spansion in early 2008, and is the inventor of Saifun NROM technology with 83 U.S. patents. Prior to Saifun, Dr. Eitan held various positions at WaferScale Integration Inc. and Intel Corp. Dr. Eitan holds a Ph.D. and a M.Sc. in applied physics and a B.Sc in mathematics and physics from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
"The board appreciates Dr. Cambou's hard work and dedication and thanks him for his important leadership during the past several years," said Dr. Eitan. "I look forward to working with him in his consulting capacity."