SHANGHAI, China, May 8, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- RDA Microelectronics, Inc. (Nasdaq:RDA) ("RDA Microelectronics" or the "Company"), a fabless semiconductor company that designs, develops and markets wireless systems-on-chip and radio-frequency (RF) semiconductors for cellular, connectivity and broadcast applications, today responds to the public announcement made by Shanghai Pudong Science and Technology Investment Co., Ltd. ("PDSTI") and an open letter addressed to the Company's Board of Directors dated May 7, 2014 (collectively the "PDSTI Announcement and Letter"). The Company is issuing this announcement to clarify certain facts and correct certain misinformation contained in the PDSTI Announcement and Letter.
1. During the competitive bidding process last year, the Company did not reach any agreement with PDSTI who did not provide the Company with any credible proof (e.g., bank commitment letter) for the Chinese bank financing guarantee claimed in the PDSTI Announcement and Letter or even PDSTI's own financial statements. The Company was and is not aware of any bank credit committee approval secured by PDSTI for such claimed bank financing guarantee.
2. Multiple interested parties participated in last year's competitive bidding process. Among these parties, PDSTI's proposal was not only significantly less favorable than Tsinghua Unigroup Ltd.'s proposal in terms of price and other key commercial terms but also much less substantiated in terms of funding capability. The Company also notes that PDSTI has a track record of making non-binding acquisition proposals but to date has not completed any major overseas acquisition.
3. The Company is required, and has always been open, to consider transactable superior proposals. PDSTI has not made any alternative proposal to the Company or provided further information about its financing capability since last year, and it had not contacted the Company for multiple months prior to issuing the PDSTI Announcement and Letter.
4. The Company is a foreign private issuer under U.S. securities laws and it complies with all the mandatory reporting requirements including filing the annual report on Form 20-F and furnishing periodic reports on Form 6-K.
5. The Company is committed to its priority on shareholder value and shareholder responsibility by focusing on its business, customers and employees. The Company's workforce has been stable and our employees have been working collaboratively and diligently to produce more than 10 new products over the past 6 months. In recent months, the Company has noted certain parties proliferating groundless rumors and engineering misleading media reports regarding the Company's employees and business conditions. The Company has found such subversive tactics regrettable and unethical. The Company is also disappointed that the PDSTI Announcement and Letter contains certain similar groundless and/or misleading statements.
The Company reconfirms its clarification and statements in its prior two announcements dated May 2 and 5, 2014, respectively. The Company and its Board of Directors hereby reiterate their commitments to protecting and maximizing shareholder interest. Completing the pending merger transaction with Tsinghua Unigroup Ltd. at $18.50 per share under the framework of the merger agreement may not be in the self interest of particular few shareholders, but the Company firmly believes that expeditiously completing such pending merger transaction (which was overwhelmingly approved by the Company's shareholders) remains in the best interest of the Company's shareholders on the whole.
About RDA Microelectronics
RDA Microelectronics is a fabless semiconductor company that designs, develops and markets wireless system-on-chip and radio-frequency semiconductors for cellular, connectivity and broadcast applications. The Company's product portfolio currently includes baseband, radio-frequency front-end modules, power amplifiers, transceivers, Bluetooth system-on-chip, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and FM combo chips, FM radio receivers, set-top box tuners, analog mobile television receivers, CMMB mobile television receivers, walkie-talkie transceivers and LNB satellite down converters. For additional information, please see the Company's website at http://www.rdamicro.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates" and similar statements. Any statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that involve factors, risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such factors and risks include the Company's anticipated growth strategies; its future results of operations and financial condition; impact of currency volatility in emerging markets; economic conditions in China; the regulatory environment in China; the Company's ability to attract customers and leverage its brand; trends and competition in the semiconductor industry; migration to new technology; the entry into baseband, new TV and display market; anticipated developments in respect of the pending merger transaction between the Company and Tsinghua Unigroup Ltd. and other factors and risks detailed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This press release also contains statements or projections that are based upon information available to the public, as well as other information from sources which the Company believes to be reliable but whose accuracy or completeness the Company cannot guarantee. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless required by applicable law.