Following reports earlier this month that Samsung was evaluating some sort of partnership with SanDisk and considering "opportunities" with them, comes word that the world's largest flash supplier has made a $5.9 billion hostile bid for SanDisk, or $26 per share, in response to their "unrealistic expectations" during negotiations.
Apparently, the companies have been in discussions for four months, to no avail, about a possible combination. Samsung says the offer is "full and fair" and constitutes a premium of 93% over SanDisk's closing share price the day before the news broke that the companies were in discussions about a business combination.
SanDisk, on the other hand, contends that this is simply an opportunistic attempt to take advantage of their current stock price, which is significantly depressed given industry cyclicality and the uncertainty resulting from the unresolved patent cross license agreements with Samsung. Things could certainly get interesting, especially since Seagate was also rumored to be interested in SanDisk.