Vitesse Semiconductor Corp. (Camarillo, CA) announced that its board of directors adopted a stockholder rights plan designed to enhance the board's ability to protect stockholders against, among other things, unsolicited attempts to acquire control of Vitesse that do not offer an adequate price to all stockholders or are otherwise not in the best interests of Vitesse and its stockholders.
Vitesse said that the plan was not adopted in response to any specific effort to acquire control of the company, and it is not aware of any such effort. Under the plan, each common stockholder at the close of business on March 7, 2003, will receive a dividend of one right for each share of common stock held. Each right entitles the holder to purchase from Vitesse Semiconductor one one-thousandth of a share of a new series of participating preferred stock at an initial purchase price of $20. The rights will expire on February 7, 2013, unless earlier exchanged or redeemed.
