Microsemi is enriching Skyworks' bid by another $400,000.

Brian Santo, Senior editor, Test & Measurement / Components, Light Reading

October 19, 2015

1 Min Read
Microsemi Challenges Skyworks for PMC-Sierra

Looking to snatch PMC-Sierra out of rival Skyworks’ clutches, Microsemi has sent PMC-Sierra’s board an acquisition counter offer of $2.4 billion, eclipsing the $2 billion that Skyworks bid two weeks ago. (See Skyworks Scoops Up PMC-Sierra for $2B.)

The Skyworks Solutions Inc. (Nasdaq: SWKS) offer is for about $10.50 a share in all cash; Microsemi’s larger offer is for $8.75 a share in cash, with the balance paid in stock.

Microsemi Corp. chairman and CEO James J. Peterson said his company wants PMC-Sierra Inc. (Nasdaq: PMCS) for pretty much the same reason Skyworks wants it:

"This acquisition will provide Microsemi with a leading position in high performance and scalable storage solutions targeted for data center and cloud applications, while also adding a complementary portfolio of high-value communications products. Microsemi has a strong track record of integrating acquisitions and driving profitability, and we will benefit from increased scale, industry-leading margins, diversified market exposure, consolidated infrastructure and substantial cost savings in a combination with PMC."

In contrast to the Skyworks bid, Microsemi said its offer is already approved by its board, is not contingent on any new financing arrangements, and won’t be subject to the regulatory scrutiny that a deal with a Chinese company is perforce going to attract.

— Brian Santo, Senior Editor, Components, T&M, Light Reading

About the Author(s)

Brian Santo

Senior editor, Test & Measurement / Components, Light Reading

Santo joined Light Reading on September 14, 2015, with a mission to turn the test & measurement and components sectors upside down and then see what falls out, photograph the debris and then write about it in a manner befitting his vast experience. That experience includes more than nine years at video and broadband industry publication CED, where he was editor-in-chief until May 2015. He previously worked as an analyst at SNL Kagan, as Technology Editor of Cable World and held various editorial roles at Electronic Engineering Times, IEEE Spectrum and Electronic News. Santo has also made and sold bedroom furniture, which is not directly relevant to his role at Light Reading but which has already earned him the nickname 'Cribmaster.'

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