SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Chip manufacturing equipment maker Cadence Design Systems Inc. said Tuesday it has proposed to buy Mentor Graphics Corp., a maker of electronics testing software, for $16 per share.
Based on Mentor's shares outstanding as of June 2, the deal would be worth $1.45 billion. A representative for Wilsonville, Ore.-based Mentor Graphics Corp. could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday morning.
San Jose, Calif.-based Cadence Design said the offer is not subject to any financing condition. The per-share price represents a nearly 30 percent premium over Mentor's closing stock price on Monday. The offer, Cadence said, also includes the assumption of $69 million of debt.
Cadence said it first made the proposal to Mentor on May 2. A combined company, Cadence added, would offer a broader range of products.
In a letter to Mentor's chairman and chief executive, Walden C. Rhines, Cadence President and CEO Michael J. Fister said it is still the company's preference to bring the companies together ''through a negotiated transaction.''
But, he added, ''given Mentor Graphics' refusal to engage in substantive discussions,'' Cadence has decided to make its proposal public.
