Telefonica de Espana SA may offer AT&T Network Systems International, the European subsidiary of AT&T Network Systems, the 20% stake it still retains in the AT&T Microelectronica de Espana SA chip manufacturing joint venture, which has its plant in Tres Cantos, Madrid and is AT&T’s chosen base for semiconductor frabrication in Europe. The phone company had been considering selling the share to AT&T Microelectronics, which owns the remainder of the capital. The new plan means that Stet SpA of Italy, and Philips NV, currently investors in AT&T Network Systems, would become indirect shareholders in the Madrid factory, and AT&T Network Systems Inc, the US telephone exchange and transmission equipment manufacturing business would also acquire an interest in the Spanish plant. If agreement is reached, the factory could gain three new partners with sufficient clout significantly to influence the unit’s business operations, Spanish observers hope. AT&T Microelectronica de Espana has met its technical objectives, but it found won many takers for the plant’s parts, particularly outside Spain.
