Private equity seems to be still on the hunt for semiconductor stocks as rumours swirl around approaches for Samsung Electronics, NEC Electronics and Cadence.

The most astonishing of these is the rumour that Carl Icahn of the US, often described by the US press as a ‘corporate raider’, is thinking of buying Samsung Electronics, the world’s second largest chip-maker after Intel.

It seems terribly unlikely since Samsung’s stock capitalisation is worth over $100bn, because the Samsung group chairman and other Samsung-owned entities hold 15.8 per cent of the company while Korean investors hold over 50 per cent, and because no hostile takeover bid has ever succeeded in Korea.

The NEC Electronics approach is a more cautious affair as the owner of 4.8 per cent of NEC Electronics stock, an investment fund called Perry Capital, is offering to spend $1.25bn to buy another 25 per cent of the company on condition that NEC Group relinquishes its controlling position on the NEC Electronics board.

The strength of Perry’s bid is that it values the shares 68 per cent higher than they were on the stock market before the news of the offer.

Additionally, Perry and other US investors, are pressuring NEC Group to reduce their holding in NEC Electronics from 70 per cent to under 50 per cent.

Finally, Blackstone and KKR are said to have been pursuing EDA company Cadence, but talks are now reported to have broken down. Earlier this year the CEO of another EDA company said he received about ten calls a week from private equity companies, which shows how desperate the funds are getting for chip-related deals.