Transmeta hires financial adviser to review buyout offer

Chip designer Transmeta said Thursday it lined up Piper Jaffray to help it weigh an unsolicited buyout offer from investor Riley Investment Management.

"Transmeta's board is focused on enhancing shareholder value," Les Crudele, Transmeta chief executive, said in a statement. "As part of that mission, we have been engaged in a process to expand our advisory resources and we are pleased to have Piper Jaffray & Co. join our team."

Last Friday, Transmeta disclosed Riley Investment Management made an unsolicited cash offer of $15.50 per share--a move that built on its previous demands in December to realign its board of directors, according to a Reuters report.

Riley Investment, which holds a 6.6 percent stake in Transmeta, also requested Transmeta complete its evaluation of its offer by this coming Friday. But the chip designer said it does expect to meet that timeline.

Riley's buyout bid, announced before the markets opened on Friday, gave Transmeta shares a minor bump of roughly 3 percent to $13.94 per share that day.

But since the offer was made last week, shares of Transmeta have slipped a bit to $13.89 a share in early morning trading Thursday.

The company received a big bump in late October, after Transmeta announced a $250 million settlement with Intel. Following that announcement, Transmeta soared to $13.93 a share, up from $4.18 a share on the previous day's close.

Transmeta has also received a little financial boost from its partners, as well. Last July, Transmeta announced it received a $7.5 million investment from Advanced Micro Devices.