Milberg Weiss Files Class Action Suit Against Atmel Corporation

Business Wire, Feb 7, 2003

Business Editors/Financial Analysts

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 7, 2003

Milberg Weiss (http://www.milberg.com/cases/atmel/) today announced that a class action has been commenced in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on behalf of purchasers of Atmel Corporation ("Atmel") (NASDAQ:ATML) publicly traded securities during the period between January 20, 2000 and July 31, 2002 (the "Class Period").

If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than 60 days from today. If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please contact plaintiff's counsel, William Lerach or Darren Robbins of Milberg Weiss at 800/449-4900 or via e-mail at wsl@milberg.com. If you are a member of this class, you can view a copy of the complaint as filed or join this class action online at http://www.milberg.com/cases/atmel/. Any member of the purported class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member.

The complaint charges Atmel and certain of its officers and directors with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, defendants caused Atmel's shares to trade at artificially inflated levels through the issuance of false and misleading financial statements, all the time concealing that Atmel was selling defective chips to its customers which would lead to product recalls, repairs and loss of customer relationships. While the Company's stock price was artificially inflated due to defendants' false statements, defendants sold more than $500 million in notes in a private placement offering. Atmel later registered these securities for resale via a Registration Statement.

On July 31, 2002, media reports indicated that the Company had been sued by a major customer, Seagate Technology Inc., for selling defective chips which led to defects in millions of disk drives. On this news, the Company's stock price declined to $2.96.

Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of all purchasers of Atmel publicly traded securities during the Class Period (the "Class"). The plaintiff is represented by Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach LLP, who has expertise in prosecuting investor class actions and extensive experience in actions involving financial fraud.

Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach LLP, a 170-lawyer firm with offices in New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boca Raton, Seattle and Philadelphia, is active in major litigations pending in federal and state courts throughout the United States. Milberg Weiss has taken a leading role in many important actions on behalf of defrauded investors, consumers, and companies, as well as victims of World War II and other human rights violations, and has been responsible for more than $30 billion in aggregate recoveries. The Milberg Weiss website (http://www.milberg.com) has more information about the firm.