Reports Claim Marvell Open To Sale; Shares Rise

Marvell Technology Group Ltd. MRVL shares are up around 3 percent on the day, trading at $10.06.

The spike may be due to circulating reports that the semiconductor maker is open to the idea of being sold.

According to the NY Post, following a patent dispute with Carnegie Mellon University last month and a fruitless six-month investigation by an audit committee regarding potential accounting fraud, Marvell "is open to a sale."

Additionally, activist hedge fund Starboard, while it "has not yet started discussions" according to a second source, it has suggested Marvell should leave the mobile-device business and cut costs.

Related Link: Marvell Technology Says An Audit Review Found No Fraudulent Activity, Shares Gain 2%

The New York Post proposed Avago Technologies following another source's suggestion, justifying the claim by stating, "Many semiconductor companies are under pressure to boost earnings."

"The Semiconductor Industry Association reported that worldwide semi sales fell 5.8 percent in January, to $26.9 billion, from the year earlier."

In a Seeking Alpha post from July 2015, Avago was previously looking to bid for Marvell, "Marvell has been viewed as a potential acquisition target as the chip industry continues consolidating."

According to a Seeking Alpha post Monday, another potential buyer for Marvell could be the recently formed Broadcom Ltd AVGO. "[T]he product of a giant recently-closed merger between Avago and (traditional) Broadcom Corporation BRCM, is mentioned by a source as a potential buyer."

At time of publication, no comments from the company had been made.