Looking back on the development process of the semiconductor industry, mergers and acquisitions have become one of the important means for major enterprises to obtain innovative technologies and talents and enhance their market position. With the reduction of large-scale M&A targets, semiconductor M&A has gradually stabilized in recent years, and small and medium-sized M&A events have occurred frequently, and another obvious trend is that the uncertainty of cross-border M&A cases has increased, making it more difficult to realize.
So what major mergers and acquisitions have occurred in the semiconductor industry since 2023?And which mergers and acquisitions have failed?The following is an incomplete inventory of Jiwei.
Bosch will acquire TSI Semiconductors for $1.5 billion to boost chip production in the United States
Bosch said on April 27 that it would acquire the assets of US chipmaker TSI Semiconductor to expand its semiconductor business for silicon carbide chips (SiC). The acquisition includes an investment of $1.5 billion over the next few years to upgrade TSI Semiconductor's manufacturing facility in Roseville, California. Starting in 2026, the first chips will be produced on 200mm silicon carbide-based wafers.
According to Bosch, the full scope of the planned investment will largely depend on the federal funding opportunities provided through the CHIPS and Science Act, which Biden** signed into law in August 2022, as well as economic development opportunities in California.
Qualcomm announced the acquisition of Autotalks, an Israeli automotive chipmaker
On May 8, Qualcomm said it would acquire Autotalks Ltd., an Israeli automotive chip maker. Autotalks manufactures specialized chips for vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication technology for manned and unmanned vehicles to improve road safety.
"We have been investing in V2X research, development, and deployment since 2017 and believe that as the automotive market matures, there will be a need for independent V2X security architectures to enhance the safety of road users as well as intelligent transportation systems," Qualcomm said in a statement. ”
Qualcomm will add Autotalks' solutions to the Snapdragon Digital Chassis portfolio, but did not elaborate on the financials of the deal.
Cadence acquires Pulsic, a U.K.-based EDA company
In May, Cadence acquired Bristol, UK-based Pulsic semiconductor design company, and a spokesperson confirmed that the deal was completed.
Pulsic is an electronic design automation (EDA) company focused on precision design automation and provides production-proven floor planning, place-and-route software solutions to address extreme design challenges at advanced nodes. The company was formed in 2000 by engineers from Zuken, who also have a tool design centre in Bristol. The company focuses on the toughest challenges in the analog space and is of great interest to memory chip designers, as well as companies such as Silicon Labs.
4.Japan will be able to:$6.3 billion acquisition of JSR, a photoresist manufacturing company
In June, Japan** unveiled a $6.3 billion deal to announce the acquisition of photoresist production company JSR Corpto privatize it.
JSR said in a statement that Japan's **-backed investment companies (JIC) plan to sell at 4,350 yen per share (30.) around DecemberUS$40) to make a takeover offer to shareholders for a total of 903.9 billion yen.
Japan's move could help Japan expand its control over photoresists, compounds necessary to make advanced semiconductors, for greater influence.
Synopsys paid more than $200 million to acquire German software company Piketec
In August, Synopsys announced that it has completed the acquisition of German software company Piketec GmbH, valued at more than $200 million, to strengthen its capabilities in autonomous driving. Synopsys said in a statement that the transaction will have little impact on its financial condition.
Founded in 2007 as part of private equity firm ECM Equity Capital Management, Piketec is focused on testing and validating software for automotive control units. In a statement, CEO Jens Lüdemann said that as the automotive industry moves towards "software-defined vehicles", the need for more efficient software testing methods is also increasing.
WT's US$3.8 billion acquisition of Future Electronics
WT announced on September 14 that it would acquire a 100% stake in Canada's Future (Future Electronics) for $3.8 billion, which is expected to be completed in the first half of 2024.
Wenzong Zheng, Chairman and CEO of WT Technology, said that this transaction is of great significance to WT Technology, Future and the overall **Chain ecosystem. With an experienced management team and excellent employees, Future is highly complementary to WT in terms of product variety, customer coverage and global presence. Future's management team, all employees around the world, as well as its locations and logistics centers, will continue to operate and provide valuable value to the company. WT also invited Future CEO Omar Baig to join WT's board of directors after the transaction closes.
Cadence will acquire Intrisix, Inc. from CEVA
Cadence and CEVA, a wireless connectivity and smart sensing IP provider, announced in September that they have entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Intelsix Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of CEVA and a design engineering solutions provider focused on the U.S. aerospace and defense industries. The acquisition will bring to Cadence a highly trained engineering team with expertise in advanced nodes, RF, mixed-signal, and security algorithms.
Amir Panush, CEO of CEVA, said: "Over the years, CEVA's strength has been in the development and licensing of semiconductor IP and software, which has supported more than 16 billion devices to date. With Intrisix, we will focus our efforts on this core expertise. ”
8.jipThe consortium acquired Toshiba, and Toshiba was officially delisted on December 20
Japan's Toshiba said on September 21 that a consortium led by "Japanese industrial partner" JIP has acquired a total of 7865% stake, one step closer to closing a $14 billion going-private transaction. At present, the JIP consortium has more than two-thirds of the majority shares, which is enough to get the decision-making power and squeeze out other shareholders.
Toshiba was officially delisted on December 20, 2023, ending its 74-year history as a listed company. The $14 billion acquisition brings Toshiba into the hands of Japanese makers after a protracted battle with overseas activist investors crippled the battery, chip, nuclear equipment and defense equipment maker.
AMD plans to acquire AI software startup NODAI, catching up with NVIDIA
AMD said in October that it plans to acquire artificial intelligence (AI) startup NodAI, as part of the enhancement of its software capabilities.
To catch up with rival chipmaker Nvidia, AMD plans to invest heavily in key software needed for the company's advanced AI chips. After more than a decade of hard work, NVIDIA has established a strong advantage in the AI chip market through the software it produces and the software developer ecosystem.
AMD has vowed to invest in and build a unified set of software to power the various chips it makes. Victor Peng, President of AMD, said: "We are executing on this strategy and achieving it through internal investments and external acquisitions. ”
$8.2 billion!Emerson completes acquisition of NI
Emerson and National Instruments (NI) announced on April 12, 2023 that they have entered into a definitive agreement whereby Emerson will acquire NI for $60 per share in cash, valued at $8.2 billion. On October 11, Emerson announced that it had completed the acquisition of NI, which will become the new test and measurement division within Emerson.
Emerson said the acquisition of NI elevates Emerson's position as a global automation leader and expands its opportunities to capitalize on key long-term trends such as nearshoring, digital transformation, sustainability and decarbonization. NI brings a portfolio of software, control and smart devices that is expected to accelerate Emerson's revenue growth, bringing it to its growth target of 4-7%.
Infineon invested 8US$300 million acquisition of GaN Systems, a GaN systems company
On October 24, Infineon announced the completion of the acquisition of GaN Systems, a GaN systems company.
According to Infineon, the Ottawa, Canada-based company will bring a broad portfolio of gallium nitride (GaN) power conversion solutions and leading application technologies. All necessary regulatory approvals have been received and GaN Systems has officially become part of Infineon following the transaction.
Currently, Infineon has 450 GaN technology experts and more than 350 GaN technology patent families. Infineon and GaN Systems complement each other in terms of intellectual property, deep understanding of applications and proven customer project planning.
Siemens completes the acquisition of EDA Software, the company Insight EDA
Siemens announced on November 15 that it has completed the sale of Insight EDA Inc., a software company, on November 1of acquisitions.
Circuit reliability is a fast-growing market for IC design. Siemens' calibre PERC software is the market leader in manufacturing reliability signoff software. Insight EDA's technology helps design engineers achieve chip design success by identifying and helping to resolve potential circuit reliability failures.
The addition of Insight EDA technology to Siemens' Caliber PERC portfolio is expected to provide chip designers with an end-to-end circuit reliability solution.
Following China's approval, Broadcom announced the completion of its $69 billion acquisition of VMware
Broadcom announced the completion of its $69 billion acquisition of cloud computing company VMware, an 18-month long process after receiving conditional regulatory approvals from Chinese regulators.
Founded in 1998, VMware is a pioneer in virtualization programs that consolidate applications and workloads onto a smaller number of server computers. This innovation makes it easier for the server to handle multiple programs.
Originally announced in May 2022, the acquisition is one of the largest in the world and the latest effort by Broadcom CEO Hock Tan to advance the chipmaker's software business. However, the deal is facing intense regulatory scrutiny around the world, and the two companies have postponed the closing date three times.
6.For 8.6 billion euros, Yageo officially completed the acquisition of Schneider's industrial sensor division
Yageo announced that it has completed the acquisition of Telemecanique Sensors, the high-end industrial sensors division of Schneider Electric, France, on November 1, 2023. The two parties have officially completed the acquisition after the completion of various consolidation and closing operations.
Yageo's acquisition was announced in October 2022 for a total price of 68.6 billion euros (about 4.9 billionRMB 7.7 billion). This acquisition will support Yageo's continued focus on high-end niche segments, further expand its product portfolio for high-end design and high-end applications, and enhance Yageo's market position as a global niche component solutions provider.
Synopsys acquires Imperas, a U.K.-based developer of verification tools
Synopsys closed on December 12 with an undisclosed acquisition of Imperas, a leading UK-based provider of RISC-V processor models, RISC-V verification solutions, and software** virtual prototyping. The transaction expands Synopsys' RISC-V verification and verification solution to meet customers' needs for early software development and functional verification for their RISC-V-based advanced SoC and multi-chip systems.
UK-based Imperas is a virtual software simulation company that has expanded into RISC-V. In November 2018, the company released RiscVovpsim, a free RISC-V instruction set that allows engineers to model and model single-core RISC-V CPUs.
JIC Consortiumwill be used$4.8 billionAcquisitionsFujitsu will be the chip packaging division
On December 13, Fujitsu said it would give Shinko Electric Industries, a Tokyo-listed chip packaging subsidiary**, to a consortium led by the Japan Investment Corporation (JIC) and divest the non-core business in a 700 billion yen ($4.8 billion) deal.
The JIC consortium, which also includes DNP and Mitsui Chemicals, plans to launch a tender offer for Fujitsu's unowned stake in late August, following regulatory approvals. It will pay 5,920 yen per share, a 13% premium to Monday's ** price. Shin Kong Electric expressed its support and advised shareholders to accept the offer.
The JIC consortium will purchase a 50% stake in Fujitsu in a separate transaction. The deal will eventually privatize Shin Kong Electric with 80% ownership by JIC, 15% by DNP and 5% by Mitsui Chemicals.
IBM will spend 21Acquisition of two divisions of a German software company for 300 million euros
IBM announced on December 18 that it would spend $21For 300 million euros, it acquired two divisions of the German software company Software AG, namely WebMethods and Streamsets. The acquisition comes as the tech giant continues to focus on and invest in hybrid cloud and artificial intelligence technologies, and will close in the second quarter of 2024.
The two acquired divisions are part of Software AG's Integration Platform-as-a-Service (IPAAS) business, which integrates applications and data.
German private equity firm Silver Lake acquired more than 93% of Software AG in October 2023, and the German software company has been in the midst of a transformation program ever since.
The simulator is aimed at hardware and software engineers and can be used as an entry point for kickstart software development, eliminating the need for hardware at hand as well as build and conformance testing on the hardware side.
18.Luxshare Precision will acquire some of the Chinese factories of chipmaker Qorvo
Qorvo, a maker of wireless connectivity chips, said on Dec. 19 that it has reached a definitive agreement to give its assembly and test facilities** in Beijing and Dezhou, China, to contract manufacturer Luxshare Precision Industries. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed and is expected to close in the first half of 2024.
Qorvo added that upon completion of the transaction, Luxshare Precision will acquire the operations and assets of each plant, including property, plant and equipment, as well as existing employees, while Qorvo will continue to retain its sales, engineering and customer support employees in China. Luxshare Precision will assemble and test products for Qorvo under a new long-term** agreement.
Since 2023, mergers and acquisitions in the semiconductor industry have been frequent, and in addition to the above-mentioned successful mergers and acquisitions or just announced cases, there are also several acquisitions that ended in failure, which have attracted widespread attention in the industry.
U.S. chipmaker Maxlinear announced the termination of its acquisition of Silicon Wing Technology
U.S. chipmaker Maxlinear said it ended an attempt to acquire Silicon Motion Technology, ending a $3.8 billion cash-plus-** deal.
In a statement on July 26, U.S. time, the Company notified it of its discharge from its obligation to complete the transaction because, among other reasons, (1) certain closing conditions set forth in the merger agreement were not and could not be satisfied;(2) Silicon Wing suffered a sustained material adverse effect, and (3) Silicon Silicon was in material breach of representations, warranties and undertakings. and the agreement in the Merger Agreement that gives the Company the right to terminate, and (4) in any event the first extended external date has passed and will not be automatically extended as certain conditions in Section 6 of the Merger Agreement as of May 5, 2023 have not been met or waived.
Intel announced the termination of its acquisition of Tower Semiconductor
Intel announced that it will abandon its acquisition of Tower Semiconductor Ltd. due to a failure to obtain regulatory approvals in a timely manner(Tower Semiconductor) and abandoned the $5.4 billion deal.
Intel noted in a statement on August 16 that it had agreed to terminate the February 2022 agreement with Tower. Under the terms of the merger agreement, Intel will pay Tower 3$5.3 billion in termination fees.
Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said, "Our foundry efforts are critical to unlocking IDM 2The full potential of 0 is critical, and we will continue to advance all aspects of our strategy. We are well executing on our roadmap to regain leadership in transistor performance and power performance by 2025, build momentum with our customers and the broader ecosystem, and invest to deliver the geographic diversity and resilient manufacturing footprint that the world needs. In this process, our respect for Tower has grown day by day, and we will continue to look for opportunities to work together in the future. ”
The merger between Western Digital and Kioxia has been terminated
Negotiations for the merger of Western Digital's semiconductor storage business with Kioxia Holdings of Japan have been terminated. The two companies aim to reach an agreement by the end of October 2023. On October 26, Western Digital informed Kioxia that it would withdraw from negotiations due to the failure to obtain approval from an indirect shareholder of Kioxia.
The two companies also failed to agree on the terms of the merger with Bain Capital, Kioxia's largest shareholder.
Kioxia (formerly Toshiba Memory) and Western Digital both saw their earnings decline due to headwinds in memory chips.
Write at the end:By taking stock of the mergers and acquisitions in the semiconductor industry in 2023, it can be found that the number of large-scale targets has decreased, and the "small and beautiful" small and medium-sized mergers and acquisitions have occurred frequently. On the other hand, as countries and regions increasingly emphasize the creation of local industrial chains, cross-border mergers and acquisitions are still difficult.