Chipmaker Emulex Corp. was again contemplating a sale. Its stocks collapsed by more than a quarter after shunning a coup proposal four years ago. Emulex hoped to help recover some of the stockholders' losses.

According to two sources familiar with the issue, Emulex employed Goldman Sachs Group Inc to look for possible buyers. Craig-Hallum Capital Group LLC said Emulex could raise as much as US$9 for every share. This would happen if the chipmaker would consider its investor's, Altai Capital Management LP, advice to sell itself.

Yesterday, the Costa Mesa, California-headquartered company's stocks declined 31% to US$6.66. This was after Emulex rejected a bid from Broadcom Corp. in 2009 that offered $11 per share.

"Given how the stock has performed since the Broadcom offer, I would be surprised if Emulex's shareholder base has not grown extremely frustrated by this point," Proxima Capital Management LLC's New York-based money manager, Youlia Miteva, commented in a telephone interview. A sale "should be the most obvious route for them to explore to create value."