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To: Tsaen Wang who wrote (12235)	2/20/1998 1:50:00 AM
From: Andrew Vance	Respond to of 17305

AV-True, there is no love lost between the two. My sources tell me that the CEOs have a common history from DEC and do not care for each other. Other Symbios management has been quite rude and derogatorially negative about ADPT. The animosity has been at the highest levels of Symbios with the exception of ADPT spiriting away some great design talent over the last few years. On the lower levels, the real working levels, there are a great deal of synergies and positives. Make no doubt about it, Hyundai sold out the Symbios employees just barely (less than a week) 3 years after acquiring them, for CASH now. This cash is going to hopefully stop some of the bleeding Hyundai is going through. It might also be the end of the supposed 2-3 year hands off policy that included some nice golden parachutes. Two weeks to consummate the deal behind the back of Symbios Management? I do not think so entirely. I think they might have known what was going on and were positioning themselves to benefit from this action a week ago. An SEC investigation might turn up something. As much as Hyundai sold Symbios down the river, I think Symbios management might have been doing the same for quite awhile. They axed more than 250 people 6-12 months prematurely out of a profitable wafer fab in Fort Collins since they did not understand that business or the customer base. Actually there have been too many bad business decisions over the past 6 years and that is not hindsight. I am told that some of these were pointed out at the moment the wrong decision were made but fell on deaf ears. After some shuffling and consolidation of the redundant operations, the survivors will be much better off than ever before. The history of Symbios Logic has never had a Decent parent organization in its entire existence. First it was a b**tard child of the National Cash Register Company, NCR, which branched out into computers and POS terminals. The semiconductor division, I am told, was just a captive capability to provide internal IC demands. Soon it became a shining star and a bright light for NCR as it shifted from captive to merchant manufacturing. Then came ATT and the semiconductor division became an ugly stechild of Bell Labs or ATT Microelectronics. Again they became a manufacturing shining star and actually were getting more than their fair share of capital expansion which aggravated the ATT guys in Orlando, FL. I am told that the ATT Micro guys were told they weren't going to be supported if they couldn't match the ugly stepchild's performance. So, instead of raising the bar at ATT Micro, they sold off the division to Hyundai, who had absolutely no clue as to what the ASIC business entailed. Therefore, the survivors of all this turmoil over the years will finally be part of a company that is best suited to allow them to flourish and finally understands the business they are engaged in. Trouble is that the management at Symbios hasn't changed much since the early NCR days so they never had a handle on their own business either. Finally, keep in mind that the Semiconductor operation we are talking about was head to head or slightly ahead of both ADPT and LSI years ago. Check the revenue and earnings numbers. However, both LSI and ADPT left them in the dust as a pathetic "also ran" as both successfully expanded their businesses and grew tremendously. So maybe it was all for the best that management won't be staying on. Maybe it is a good sign and a good oppportunity. Under the right managment, Symbios Logic could finally grow and flourish beyond its rather stagnant existence. Some vision, some aggressiveness, and some risk taking by empowering and letting your people perform, could mark a new era for those still there. If the wrong people leave or are not asked to leave, I would expect a further mass bailout of those that are left. This will solve a problem for ADPT down the road but they might be stuck with the wrong people, also<GGG>.