SANTA CLARA, California, March 20 (Reuters) - Synopsys ( SNPS )

Chief Executive Sassine Ghazi on Wednesday said the company has

narrowed potential suitors for its security software unit down

to about a half dozen.

Synopsys ( SNPS ) said last year it will sell off the unit, which

Bloomberg has reported could be valued at $3 billion.

At the company's annual developer conference in Santa Clara,

Ghazi said about three dozen possible buyers showed interest.

"It's a very competitive process with a lot of interested

parties," Ghazi said. He did not give a timeline for the

completion of a deal.