Mentor Graphics Corp has finally abandoned its attempted takeover of Quickturn Design Systems Inc, ending a struggle that has been ongoing since August and clearing the way for white knight Cadence Design Systems to acquire the company in an agreed merger. Cadence will pay $15 per share for Quickturn, valuing the company at around $271m. Mentor’s last ditch effort for the disputed takeover target matched the Cadence price, but was only for just over 10% of the company’s outstanding shares, with a promise to acquire the rest later. In conjunction with its decision, Mentor also withdrew its request for a shareholder vote which had been scheduled to take place Friday, in which it sought to replace Quickturn’s board with its own nominees. The company appears to have realized that it didn’t have the shareholder support necessary to oust the board and block the deal with Cadence, which had raised doubt about Mentor’s ability to come up with the necessary financing to back up its proposed offer. Before giving up entirely, Mentor actually sought to have the shareholder vote postponed, a motion that was denied by a Delaware court Friday morning.
