Semiconductor M&A activity falls back
In 2018 semiconductor M&A activity was valued at $23.2 billion, down from $28.1 billion in 2017 and from a record level of $107.3 billion in 2015.
An original 2016 estimate of M&A total of $100.4 billion was lowered by $41.1 billion to $59.3 billion because several major acquisitions were not completed – most notably Qualcomm’s planned purchase of NXP Semiconductor for $39 billion, which was raised to $44 billion before being cancelled in July 2018.
Value of semiconductor merger and acquisition agreements by year. Source: IC Insights.
The two largest deals in 2018 were the acquisition of Microsemi by Microchip Technology for $8.35 billion (see One Micro to buy another for $8.35 billion) and the acquisition of Integrated Device Technology (IDT) by Renesas Electronics for $6.7 billion in cash. The two-Micros deal closed in May 2018. The Renesas deal is expected to complete by June 2019.
Also announced in 2018 was Micron Technology’s intention to acquire full ownership of its IM Flash Technology joint venture for about $1.5 billion in cash (see Micron triggers buy out of Intel JV). Another deal was the intention of Wingtech Technology Co. Ltd. (Shanghai, China) to acquire Nexperia BV (Nijmegen, The Netherlands), a manufacturer of discretes, logic by buying out the majority owning consortium that acquired Nexperia from NXP.
Related links and articles:
News articles:
Ten deals that shaped the analog, MEMS and sensors world in 2018
Qualcomm raises bid for NXP to $44 billion
Renesas to buy IDT for $6.7 billion
One Micro to buy another for $8.35 billion
Chinese firm to buy Nexperia for $3.6 billion