May 2 (Bloomberg) -- Shares of Soitec SA, whose silicon is the base for semiconductors that power Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 game console, had their biggest gain in six months on speculation Intel Corp. may be considering buying the company.

The shares rose 1.51 euros, or 8.7 percent, to close at 18.89 euros in Paris, the biggest gain since October. Shares of the company based in Bernin in the French Alps, have slumped 24 percent this year.

``There's a rumor of a possible bid from Intel,'' said Emanuele Vizzini, who oversees about $1.2 billion at Investitori Sgr in Milan. ``I don't think it's likely because Soitec produces silicon insulators for AMD and IBM and Intel has denied any interest in their patent.''

Intel, the world's largest maker of semiconductors, doesn't use Soitec's technology for its chips. The French company's customers do include Intel rivals Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and International Business Machines Corp.

A purchase of the silicon wafer maker would mean Intel would lose revenue Soitec gets from AMD, Vizzini said.

Intel spokesman Chuck Mulloy said the company doesn't comment on rumors. Oliver Brice, a spokesman for Soitec declined to comment.

Soitec's silicon wafers with an insulated conductive layer on top, allow computer chips to operate at faster speeds and reduce power consumption. They are used in consoles by Nintendo Co., Microsoft Corp. and Sony. The company uses a technology called silicon-on-insulator, or SOI, to create its wafers.

To contact the reporters on this story: Rudy Ruitenberg in Paris at rruitenberg@bloomberg.net;

Last Updated: May 2, 2007 12:30 EDT