Samsung Withdraws Proposal to Acquire SanDisk

October 22, 2008 
  
Board of Directors 
SanDisk Corporation 
601 McCarthy Boulevard 
Milpitas, CA 95035 
  
Attention: Dr. Eli Harari, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer 
           Mr. Irwin Federman, Vice Chairman and Lead Independent Director 
      
  
Dear Eli and Irwin:
 
  
After nearly six months of efforts to pursue a transaction with no meaningful progress, we are withdrawing our proposal to acquire SanDisk.  I am disappointed that we have been unable to reach an agreement on our proposal.  I continue to believe that a combination of our two companies would have created a superior global brand, an unparalleled technology platform and the scale and resources to drive convergence in the marketplace.  Had we been able to execute on our proposal, your shareholders would have received full, fair and certain value for their shares and your employees and other stakeholders would have benefited from a broader platform and a wider range of opportunities.  

 

Nevertheless, we have obligations to our own shareholders which require that we take a disciplined approach, particularly with respect to significant initiatives such as this.  That disciplined approach requires that we squarely face the growing uncertainties in your business, which may continue to deteriorate in this difficult economic environment and further impact your standalone value.  Your recently announced third quarter results serve only to illustrate this risk.  Your surprise announcements of a quarter billion dollar operating loss, a hurried renegotiation of your relationship with Toshiba and major job losses across your organization all point to a considerable increase in your risk profile and a material deterioration in value, both on a stand-alone basis as well as to Samsung.  As a result of these developments, we are no longer interested in acquiring SanDisk at $26/share.

 

While I regret that we were unable to work together to achieve a business combination that would have created new opportunities for all of us, we wish you the best in meeting the challenges ahead.
 
  
Sincerely,
 
  
Yoon Woo Lee

Vice Chairman & CEO

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
 


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삼성에겐 아쉬운 일이겠지만 두고봐야 알일. 결국 중간에 도시바만 닭짓한 셈일수도. ㅋㅋ