Amstrad Plc looks to be taking a big hit on its Micron Technology Inc shares, raising worries that it needs the money. Amstrad paid $75m – $21 a share – for the 3.57m shares in late 1988 but they are now trading in the market at $14 even, which means that Amstrad is likely to get back only $50m for the 9% stake. Amstrad bought the shares at the height of the memory chip crisis to ensure a guaranteed supply of chips, and now clearly does not foresee the 1988 crisis conditions recurring any time soon. The shares will be registered for sale by an underwriting group in mid-June.
