	schlumberger slb ends pact to sell fairchild schlumberger ltd said it terminated an agreement in principle for fujitsu ltd to buy pct of its fairchild semiconductor operations the company said the rising political controversy in the u s concerning the venture made it unlikely that the sale of the fairchild stake could be completed within a reasonable time the sale has been opposed by the u s commerce department and the u s defense department in part on national security grounds the company said termination of the agreement opened other possibilities including a possible leveraged buyout of the semiconductor maker by fairchild management in the interim fairchild would continue its ongoing business within schlumberger the oilfield services concern said last october schlumberger announced the sale of the fairchild stake and said it would take a mln dlrs charge in the fourth quarter from the sale the company ended up recording special charges of billion dlrs in the fourth quarter leading to a loss of billion dlrs for the year schlumberger never announced a price for the sale but industry analysts have estimated the value of the deal at about mln dlrs the proposed sale was under antitrust review by the u s justice department additionally commerce secretary malcolm baldridge and other u s officials have voiced reservations about the transaction since it was announced government officials have expressed concern that the sale could reduce the competitiveness of u s chip makers by putting key advanced technology into japanese hands new high technology semiconductors are used in supercomputers which are faster and more powerful than existing computers schlumberger is an oilfield services company controlled by french interests and headquartered in new york fujitsu ltd is a computer and telecommunications company based in japan reuter 
