During the past year, the global semiconductor industry has seen a tsunami of merger and acquisition activity. The power semiconductor sector was no exception. Consolidation was global ranging from the $40 billion merger/acquisition between Europe's NXP and Freescale in the U.S. to Japan's ROHM spending $70 million to acquire Ireland's Powervation and its digital power technology. And in November of last year, Infineon declared its 2014 acquisition of International Rectifier to be a success. The following is a list of several of the most-significant mergers and acquisitions in the power sector during 2015:
NXP and Freescale $40 Billion Merger-Acquisition
NXP Semiconductors N.V. and Freescale Semiconductor, Ltd. announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which NXP will merge with Freescale in a transaction which values the combined enterprise at just over $40 billion. NXP's purchase of Freescale for $11.8 billion creates an enterprise with combined revenue of greater than $10 billion. The merged entity will become the market leader in automotive semiconductor solutions and the market leader in general purpose microcontroller (MCU) products. The combined company will capitalize on the growing opportunities created by the accelerating demand for security, connectivity and processing. more
Dialog Semi to acquire Atmel for $4.6 Billion
Dialog Semiconductor and Atmel Corporation announced that Dialog has agreed to acquire Atmel in a cash and stock transaction for total consideration of approximately $4.6 billion. The acquisition creates a global leader in both power management and embedded processing solutions. The transaction results in a fast growing and innovative powerhouse, supporting mobile power, IoT and automotive customers. The combined company will address an attractive, fast growing market opportunity of approximately $20 billion by 2019. more
ON Semi to Acquire Fairchild for $2.4 Billion
ON Semiconductor and Fairchild Semiconductor International Inc. announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement for ON Semiconductor to acquire Fairchild for $20.00 per share in an all cash transaction valued at approximately $2.4 billion. The acquisition creates a leader in the power semiconductor market with combined revenue of approximately $5 billion, diversified across multiple markets with a strategic focus on automotive, industrial and smartphone end markets. more
IDT to Acquire ZMDI for $310 Million
Integrated Device Technology, Inc. (IDT) announced an agreement to acquire privately held Zentrum Mikroelektronik Dresden AG (ZMDI) for total consideration of $310M in cash. The acquisition provides IDT with a highly regarded Automotive & Industrial business, and extends their technology leadership in high performance programmable power devices and timing & signal conditioning. more
Great Wall Acquisition expands Intersil's Power FET Offering
Intersil Corporation today announced the acquisition of Great Wall Semiconductor (GWS), a private technology company developing power MOSFET technology for cloud computing, space and consumer applications. GWS's design team brings valuable experience leveraging advanced design and process technology to enable power efficiency gains and footprint reduction in complex power systems. GWS's existing and emerging FET products in combination with Intersil's power controller portfolio, are expected to expand Intersil's addressable market and provide compelling integration opportunities to accelerate innovation in the development of next generation power stages. more
IXYS acquires RadioPulse SoC for the IoT
IXYS Corporation signed a definitive agreement to acquire RadioPulse. Based in Seoul, Korea, the fabless semiconductor company develops, manufactures and sells innovative wireless network technology solutions based on the ZigBee protocol (which combines MCUs and RF). RadioPulse's energy-friendly solutions are designed to enable a broad range of power-sensitive applications in the industrial, medical, consumer, smart grid and Internet of Things (IoT) markets. RadioPulse offers a complementary product portfolio to IXYS' MCU product lines, which include those of Zilog, Inc. more
Infineon Declares IR Integration a Financial Success
Infineon Technologies AG reported its results for the fourth quarter and the 2015 fiscal year, ended September 30, 2015. The Infineon Group's revenue edged up by EUR12 million or 1 percent to EUR1,598 million in the fourth quarter of the 2015 fiscal year, compared with EUR1,586 million in the previous quarter. The Industrial Power Control (IPC), Power Management & Multimarket (PMM), and Chip Card & Security (CCS) segments all contributed to revenue growth, whereas the Automotive (ATV) segment recorded a 1 percent decrease. more
Infineon acquires Outstanding Shares of Korean Manufacturing JV
Infineon Technologies AG has purchased all outstanding shares of LS Power Semitech Co., Ltd., a company established in 2009 as a joint-venture of Infineon and LS Industrial Systems in Korea. The strategic acquisition increases Infineon's global footprint in the growing market segment of Intelligent Power Modules (IPM) which enable higher energy efficiency in consumer appliances such as refrigerators, freezers, washing machines, dryers, and air conditioners. more
ROHM Acquires Powervation for $70 Million
ROHM Co., Ltd. completed the acquisition of Powervation Ltd., a privately held digital power IC company that develops Digital Power Management system-on-chip (SoC) solutions for approximately $70M, in an all-cash transaction. The strategic combination of Powervation's Intelligent Digital Power™ platform with ROHM’s leading analog power technology and global market access will enable the company to address a broad range of fast growing market opportunities, as customers increasingly adopt digital power solutions to power next generation high density systems and ICs such as Processors, Memory, FPGAs, and ASICs. more
Cree aims to Disrupt SiC Market with APEI Acquisition
Cree, Inc. announced the acquisition of Arkansas Power Electronics International, Inc. (APEI) Combining two highly complementary innovators, the acquisition enables Cree's Power and RF business to extend its leadership position and help to accelerate the market for high-performance, best-in-class SiC power modules. Dr. Alex Lostetter, former president and CEO of APEI will become the Vice President of the newly-formed Cree Fayetteville, Inc. more
Okaya Invests in HexaTech to Bring AlN to Japan
HexaTech, Inc., a market leader in Aluminum-Nitride (AlN) based semiconductor material and devices, announced today the signing of a broad, strategic agreement with Okaya & Co., Ltd. of Nagoya, Japan, and its US subsidiary, Okaya USA, Inc. The agreement establishes Okaya as the sole representative for HexaTech's AlN substrate products in Japan, and also includes a direct equity investment by Okaya in HexaTech. It further sets the stage for Okaya to assume a leadership position to market and sell HexaTech's line of UV-C LEDs targeted for launch later this year. more
