Investment firm Pleasant Lake offers to buy MagnaChip

(Reuters) - Investment firm Pleasant Lake Partners LLC offered to buy analog chipmaker MagnaChip Semiconductor Corp in a deal valuing the South Korea-based company at about $346 million. MagnaChip's shares were up 5 percent at $8.12 in mid-morning trade. The $10-per-share offer of Pleasant Lake, which owns 9.9 percent of MagnaChip, is at a premium of 29 percent to MagnaChip's Friday closing price.(http://1.usa.gov/1fRbi5p) MagnaChip's chips are used in smartphones, tablets and television. The company also makes chip-making equipment for analog chipmakers. New York-based Pleasant Lake said in a letter to MagnaChip on Monday it had requested MagnaChip that it be included in any upcoming auction process, but had not received a response. MagnaChip established a strategic review committee in June to look for a sale of all or a substantial portion of the company. The company engaged Barclays as its financial adviser for the process. MagnaChip's total revenue fell 5.8 percent to $162 million in the second quarter ended June 30, from a year earlier. Up to Friday's close, MagnaChip's stock had fallen 40.4 percent this year. (Reporting by Kshitiz Goliya in Bengaluru; Editing by Don Sebastian and Maju Samuel)