SCHLUMBERGER <SLB> MAY HAVE ALTERNATE BUYER Schlumberger Ltd most likely has an alternate buyer lined up for its Fairchild Semiconductor unit, Wall Street analysts said. "I think its clear that in cancelling its agreement with Fujitsu, Schlumberger has signaled that it has another deal in the works," said Paul Johnson, a semiconductor analyst with L.F. Rothschild. "There are unquestionably other buyers out there," added Kidder Peabody analyst Adam F. Cuhney. "A lot of companies have looked at Fairchild and would be willing to buy it." Among the companies that would be interested in bidding for Fairchild are Advanced Micro Devices <AMD>, Sunnyvale, Calif., and LSI Logic Corp <LLSI>, Milpitas, Calif., industry analysts said. Top U.S. chipmakers like National Semiconductor Corp <NSM>, Texas Instruments Inc <TXN> and Motorola Inc <MOT> might also seek to buy Fairchild, but could possibly run into antitrust problems, the analysts added. Moreover, Fairchild's management is thought to be considering proposing a leveraged buyout of the Cupertino, Calif., company, analysts said. In a brief statement announcing the termination of the agreement with Fujitsu, Schlumberger said the decision opened up other possibilities, including a possible buyout by Fairchild management. The company said it ended the deal, in which Fujitsu would have bought 80 pct of Fairchild for an estimated 200 mln dlrs, because rising opposition to the deal by the Reagan administration made it unlikely that the sale could be completed within a reasonable period of time. Analysts questioned this explanation, however, arguing that the companies did not need government approval to complete the transaction. Both Schlumberger and Fujitsu are foreigned-owned companies. "Schlumberger would not have terminated the deal because the U.S. government didn't want it," said Johnson of L.F. Rothschild. A spokesman for Schlumberger declined to elaborate on the company's news release. He said only that the company was reviewing a number of possible alternatives for the Fairchild unit. Officials at Fairchild and Fujitsu were not immediately available for comment. Analysts noted the significance of the government's apparent success in preventing Fujitsu from taking control of Fairchild. Administration officials, including Commerce Secretary Malcolm Baldrige and Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, feared that the sale to Fujitsu would lead to Japanese control of key semiconductor technology for supercomputers and military weapons systems. "The government really stood up for the semiconductor industry," said Johnson of L.F. Rothschild. "That, I think, is the real significance of this." Consequently, analysts said, the Japanese government might now feel more pressure to address U.S. complaints about Japanese chipmakers' violation of the semiconductor trade agreement signed last summer.