ASMI to present plan for front-end unit on April 28

AMSTERDAM, April 24 (Reuters) - Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASM International (ASMI.AS: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Thursday it would present a new strategy plan for its underperforming front-end unit on April 28.

The struggling unit, which makes machines for the early stages of chip production, has driven activist shareholders Hermes and Fursa Alternative Strategies to seek to sack ASMI Chief Executive Chuck del Prado and five supervisory board members.

Hermes manages the BT Pension Scheme, which last week raised its ASMI stake to 15 percent from 10 percent via its custodian trustees BriTel Fund Trustees Ltd. Fursa owns about 10 percent of ASMI.

A conference call and analyst meeting will take place at 1400 GMT on Monday, ASMI said in a statement. It said it would release details of the plan before the stock market opens in Amsterdam on Monday.

ASMI has promised to turn the unit around and bring profit margins into line with rivals by 2009, and had said it would give details on how to achieve this before the shareholders' meeting on May 21. (Reporting by Catherine Hornby; Editing by Paul Bolding)