Mentor Drops Bid to Acquire Quickturn

Mentor Graphics Corp. ended its bitter five-month takeover battle for Quickturn Design Systems Inc., clearing the way for Quickturn to be sold to its white-knight bidder, Cadence Design Systems Inc., for $271.3 million. Wilsonville, Ore.-based Mentor withdrew its $15-a-share offer for Quickturn and canceled a special meeting of shareholders after it became clear that Mentor lacked sufficient support to oust Quickturn’s board. Mentor and Cadence both make computer software to design chips for the electronic and semiconductor industries. Quickturn makes software that lets companies test chip designs before putting them into finished products. Mentor first offered about $12.13 a share for Quickturn in August and later tried increasing its price three times and filed two lawsuits against Quickturn, but to no avail. Quickturn’s stock fell 67 cents to close at $14.27 on Nasdaq, where Mentor’s shares rose 69 cents to close at $10.69. On the New York Stock Exchange, Cadence’s shares fell $1.25 to close at $28.75.