Cypress investor urges company to sell itself

A Cypress Semiconductor Corp. shareholder called on the company to shed a controlling stake in a solar-energy business and put itself up for sale.

Chapman Capital, which owns about 1% of San Jose-based Cypress, made the recommendation in a letter to the company’s board.

Chapman, a Los Angeles investment firm, wants Cypress to reconsider an October decision in which Chief Executive T.J. Rodgers said there was no rush to “monetize” publicly traded SunPower Corp., the company’s fastest-growing division.