According to Ji Weibo, "M & A" has always been a key word in the semiconductor industry. Since the beginning of this year, the semiconductor industry is still hot, at the same time, new technologies and demand have also put forward higher requirements for the semiconductor industry. In order to occupy the "new highland" as soon as possible, many semiconductor enterprises choose to carry out industrial integration through mergers and acquisitions in order to improve their market competitiveness.
Four large M & An agreements were announced in the first half of 2022, each worth between $1.9 billion and $9.4 billion, pushing the total value of mergers and acquisitions in the first half of this year to $20.6 billion, according to an August report by IC Insights, a leading semiconductor analyst.
So what are the major mergers and acquisitions in the semiconductor industry since 2022? The following is an incomplete inventory of the microgrid.
AMD officially completes acquisition of Cyrus for $49.8 billion
On Feb. 14, AMD said it had completed its $49.8 billion acquisition of Cyrus. Earlier, AMD said it had obtained all the necessary approvals for the acquisition of Cyrus.
From the announcement of the stock exchange agreement between the two sides in October 2020 to the final completion of the deal in February this year, the heavyweight merger and acquisition of the semiconductor industry lasted for nearly 500 days and was delayed until the State Administration of Market Supervision and Administration announced conditional approval for the AMD acquisition at the end of January this year, and the huge M & A deal finally passed the last major regulatory node. With the rise in the share price of Cyrus during this period, the scale of mergers and acquisitions has also reached nearly 50 billion US dollars, surpassing the Anhuagao-Broadcom Ltd merger and acquisition, creating a new record for mergers and acquisitions in the semiconductor industry.
Intel Corp buys Israeli chip company Tower Semiconductor for $5.4 billion
Intel Corp announced that it would acquire Israeli chip company Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (Gaota Semiconductor) for US $53 per share, totaling US $5.4 billion. The acquisition significantly advanced Intel Corp's IDM 2.0 strategy.
High Tower Semiconductor produces semiconductors and circuits used in all fields from automobiles and consumer goods to medical and industrial equipment. According to its website, it has manufacturing plants in Israel, California, Texas and Japan.
It is understood that the deal, which is expected to be completed in about 12 months, has been unanimously approved by Intel Corp and the board of directors of Gaota Semiconductor, and is subject to certain regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions, including approval from Gaota shareholders.
Diodes Announces acquisition of on Semiconductor fabs in South Portland
On February 28th, Diodes announced that a final agreement had been reached for the acquisition of onsemi's wafer fabrication facilities and operations ("South Portland facilities") in South Portland, Maine.
According to the announcement, the South Portland Plant (SPFAB) provides Diodes with additional 200mm fab capacity and will produce simulation products to accelerate its growth plans in the automotive and industrial end markets. The US-based plant, together with Diodes's existing wafer manufacturing plants in Asia and Europe, will further strengthen Diodes's global manufacturing operations.
Diodes plans to leverage SPFAB's facility qualifications and manufacturing processes for CMOS and BiCMOS to support multiple analog product lines, including power management IC, signal chain and standard products, and multiple high-performance discrete product lines.
AMD plans to acquire chip startup Pensando for $1.9 billion
AMD plans to buy chip and software startup Pensando Systems for $1.9 billion, pushing ahead with its M & A strategy soon after completing the largest deal in its history.
The proposed acquisition disclosed by AMD will expand its product portfolio. AMD is repositioning its products to take advantage of the growing demand for chips. Pensando will add strength to AMD in terms of products in the network, security, and other service data center markets. As companies increasingly adopt digital tools, these markets are exploding.
MaxLinear buys Huirong for $3.8 billion
In May, US company MaxLinear (Mailin Technology) and Silicon Motion (Silicon Motion Technology Corp), a leading manufacturer of memory master chips, announced an agreement that Mailing would buy Huirong for $3.8 billion in cash and stock. The acquisition is expected to be completed in the first half of next year.
MaxLinear said that after the acquisition, the company has a highly diversified technology platform and a strong position in the broadband, connectivity, infrastructure and storage terminal markets. The combination of MaxLinear RF, analog / mixed signal and processing capabilities with Silicon Motion's market-leading NAND flash controller technology complements a complete technology stack that fully captures end-to-end platform capabilities and accelerates the company's expansion into enterprises, consumers and many other adjacent growth markets.
Broadcom Ltd buys VMware for 61 billion US dollars
In May, Broadcom Ltd announced the acquisition of VMware for $61 billion to step into the software industry. CEO Chen Fuyang (Hock Tan) said that the acquisition covers three major topics, namely, Multi-Cloud, cloud native software development and pricing, and that the future addition of VMware will provide a set of software and hardware solutions to meet the cloud needs of enterprises.
According to the latest report in November, Broadcom Ltd has applied to the European Union for the $61 billion acquisition of cloud computing company VMware, seeking to pass antitrust review to complete the necessary step in the largest merger in semiconductor history. The deal is one of the largest acquisitions in the history of the technology industry, second only to Microsoft Corp's $75 billion acquisition of gaming company Activision Blizzard.
In September, two mergers and acquisitions occurred one after another in the domestic EDA industry, one was Xinhuazhang's acquisition of instantaneous Yao Electronics, and the other was Huada's acquisition of Xinda Technology. Both mergers and acquisitions have the characteristics of the EDA industry, with companies with a richer product line acquiring companies that are competitive in specific areas.
Xin Huazhang acquires instantaneous Yao Electronics
On September 26, Xin Huazhang announced the acquisition of instantaneous Yao Electronics, a leading company in high-performance simulation software, and the integration of its core technology. the amount of the merger and acquisition was not disclosed. At the same time, Core Huazhang Technology announced that Fu Yong, founder of instantaneous Yao Electronics, officially joined Xin Huazhang as the company's Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Instant Yao Electronics has a high-performance logic simulator ShunSim, the core of which is very large-scale multithreaded simulation technology. Xin Huazhang will integrate it into the company's intelligent V verification platform to enrich its system-level verification product portfolio.
Huada Jiutian acquires Xida Technology
On October 18, Huada Jiutian announced that it planned to acquire 100% equity in Xida Technology with US $10 million in cash through its wholly-owned subsidiary Shenzhen Jiutian, and signed the relevant acquisition agreement. After the completion of the investment, the target company became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Shenzhen Jiutian and included in the consolidated statement of the company.
Xinda Technology focuses on the development of memory / IP characterization extraction tools, which is one of the key tools in the field of digital design and wafer manufacturing. Huada Nine days will "make up for the shortcomings of digital design and wafer manufacturing EDA tools" through acquisition.
In October, the giant, a big manufacturer of passive components in Taiwan, also had two mergers and acquisitions, which are expected to be completed in the first half of next year, and the two mergers and acquisitions will contribute NT $13 billion in annual revenue.
China Giant buys Heraeus High-end temperature Sensor Division for US $77.26 million
On October 11, Guoju and Heraeus of Germany jointly announced that the two sides had reached a final agreement to buy Heraeus's high-end temperature sensor division for cash, with a total expected transaction value of about $77.26 million. Guoju said that the layout of Heraeus of Germany and Schneider of France will be an important layout of the company's sensing business. After the future merger, the revenue of the sensing business is expected to exceed 600 million US dollars, accounting for 14% of the revenue. Sensing will be one of the key directions for the sustainable development of the company in the future.
Guoju will buy Schneider Electric Sensor Business for US $730 million
On October 27th, Guoju announced that it would buy France's Schneider Electric Advanced Industrial Sensor Division (Telemecanique Sensors) for 686 million euros ($730 million) in cash, with delivery expected to be completed in the first half of next year.
Telemecanique Sensors is a global professional supplier of design, development and solutions for key mechatronics and electronic sensors, with revenues of US $330 million (about RMB 2.379 billion) last year. Its products include advanced limit switches, proximity sensors and pressure sensors, focusing on advanced markets in North America and Europe. Guoju said that Telemecanique Sensors has long focused on B2B and has an advantage in the most advanced product portfolio. Through this acquisition, Guoju will continue to expand its innovative sensor solutions and further expand and deepen its close relationship with customers of global industrial regulations.
Japanese fund buys on Senmei chip factory for $135 million
Japan funds, backed by the Japan Development Bank and Itochu Corporation, are buying a semiconductor plant owned by American manufacturer Onsemi for more than 20 billion yen ($135 million, 983 million yuan).
The plant in Niigata will be equipped with the latest production facilities and will begin contract production of semiconductors for electric vehicles (EV) in December. It is reported that the Niigata plant, originally the main semiconductor plant of Sanyo Motor Group, which was acquired by on Semiconductor in 2011, has passed the automobile quality certification and meets the requirements of IATF 16949 (the global quality control industry standard). Currently, the company manufactures BCD,BiCMOS,CMOS and semiconductor discrete devices at its Xinqi plant.
Ziguang Liansheng, a subsidiary of Ziguang Group, has successfully acquired a majority stake in Sweden's Nile Group.
On November 4, according to the official website of Ziguang Group, Ziguang Liansheng, a subsidiary of Ziguang Group, has successfully acquired a majority stake in Sweden's Nile Group. This could be the first public acquisition of the Chinese high-tech industrial group since it completed its restructuring in July. According to reports, Nile Group is a company specializing in providing functional printed matter to customers in the medical industry, providing a portfolio of products and services, including medical devices, RFID solutions, printed electronics and security solutions.
This acquisition may mean that the relevant strategic work after Ziguang restructuring has been gradually implemented and began to be laid out in the field of smart health care, more business actions are expected to be promoted in the future, and the advantages of resource integration in its industrial chain will be highlighted faster.
Anshi Semiconductor acquires Dutch semiconductor company Nowi
On November 11th, Anshi Semiconductor announced the acquisition of Nowi, a Dutch semiconductor company founded in 2016. It is reported that Nowi's PMIC combines ultra-small PCB packaging, ultra-low BOM cost, and excellent average acquisition performance. Thanks to the manufacturing capabilities of Anshi Semiconductor and its strong global infrastructure, Nowi can accelerate the production process of these solutions and quickly achieve larger-scale production and transportation.
Pan-Forest Group's acquisition of SEMSYSCO will enhance Advanced Packaging capability
On November 17th, Pan Lin Group announced that it had acquired SEMSYSCO GmbH, a global supplier of wet processing semiconductor equipment, from Gruenwald Equity and other investors, which will expand its packaging product range. The exact amount of the acquisition has not been disclosed.
It is reported that after completing the acquisition of SEMSYSCO, the new product portfolio has innovative cleaning and electroplating capabilities for heterogeneous integration between small chips or between small chips and substrates, including subversive processes such as supporting fan-out panel-level packaging. In this process, the chip or small chip is cut from a large rectangular substrate several times the size of the traditional silicon wafer. This method will help chip manufacturers significantly improve yield and reduce loss.
Guoxing Optoelectronics successfully acquires Fenghua Core Power Semiconductor Business
In December, Guoxing Optoelectronics announced that the registration procedures for industrial and commercial change of Fenghua Core Power had been completed recently and obtained a business license issued by the Guangzhou Municipal Market Supervision Administration. At present, the company holds a 99.87695% stake in Core Power.
It is understood that Fenghua Core Power is a state-level high-tech enterprise specializing in the research, development, production and sales of semiconductor discrete devices and integrated circuits. The products are mainly used in lighting circuits, consumer electronics, computers, communications and telecommunications, industrial automation systems, automotive electronics and other fields.
Guoxing Optoelectronics believes that this equity acquisition will enable the company to quickly cut into the closed testing link of compound semiconductors, promote the rapid development of the company's new track, achieve a strong chain in the semiconductor field, and strengthen the third-generation semiconductor business.
South Korean semiconductor equipment material manufacturer acquires DDI chip startup D2I
On December 7th, South Korean semiconductor manufacturer Wonik Group bought D2I, an one-year-old display driver chip designer, for 10.7 billion won. Yuanyi Group mainly focuses on materials and manufacturing equipment for chips and displays, including atomic layer precipitation process equipment (ALD), core accessories for semiconductor and TFT-LCD production, high purity gas, chemicals, etc.
It is reported that Hong Soon-won, the founder of D2I, founded South Korea's first wafer-free chip design company TLI in 1998 to develop DDI and timing controllers for LCD panels.
Since 2022, with the development and change of the industrial pattern, large-scale mergers and acquisitions of semiconductors have occurred frequently around the world, but some people are happy and others are worried. In addition to the above successful acquisitions, there are several failed mergers and acquisitions.
First of all, NVIDIA Corp's preparation for the acquisition of ARM has attracted global attention. Precisely because of the significant implications of the acquisition, it has also triggered opposition from regulators in the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union, as well as people in many industries. Finally, on Feb. 8, due to the lack of progress in the acquisition, NVIDIA Corp announced the termination of his planned $66 billion acquisition of ARM and paid Softbank Corp. a termination fee of up to $1.25 billion. Subsequently, Softbank Corp. began to promote the IPO process of ARM.
In addition, Global Crystal's acquisition of German silicon wafer maker Siltronic has also failed. On February 2, Global Jingjing's acquisition of Siltronic ended when it failed to get approval from the German government before the deadline. As for the unapproved reasons, a spokesman for the German economy Ministry said: "the review of this investment case also involves Chinese mainland's examination of antitrust supporting measures, and the Chinese side did not complete the operation until last week. Therefore, it is impossible for the German side to complete all the procedures required for the review within the time limit."
Industry insiders pointed out that "the main reason for Germany's failure to approve is driven by technological nationalism, because the German government does not want to hand over control of key parts of the entire semiconductor ecosystem to Asia."
In addition, the German government has blocked Chinese companies from acquiring two local chipmakers. On Nov. 9, the German government blocked potential Chinese investment in two German semiconductor manufacturers because of concerns about so-called national security and the outflow of sensitive technical knowledge. The German government says it has vetoed Sweden's Silex's acquisition of Dortmund's Elmos chip plant. Silex is a subsidiary of China Sai Microelectronics Group. In addition, the German government has blocked investment in ERS Electronic in the southern state of Bavaria.
Countries pay more and more attention to semiconductors, and there is a greater need to strengthen local supply chains. Does this mean that cross-border mergers and acquisitions of semiconductors will become more and more difficult? In this regard, in the micro-network interview, the industry has given an affirmative answer. "the mood of trading products and semiconductor self-sufficiency in various countries will make any cross-border mergers and acquisitions difficult in the short term," industry insiders said. " Industry insiders pointed out that national security, anti-monopoly, opposition from stakeholders and other factors will affect the success rate of semiconductor mergers and acquisitions.
For Chinese semiconductor companies that want to carry out overseas mergers and acquisitions, industry insiders also put forward suggestions: first of all, what is the purpose of mergers and acquisitions, for revenue, technology or other? "maybe we don't need a comprehensive merger and acquisition, and we can achieve a similar goal through IP authorization or similar commercial cooperation."
Finally, it is worth mentioning that in addition to the mergers and acquisitions that have been landed, there are also rumors of potential mergers and acquisitions at the beginning of the year. In January this year, according to South Korean media reports, Samsung is expected to announce large-scale mergers and acquisitions in the near future, Infineon or NXP as the acquisition target.
Han Jong-hee, vice president of Samsung Electronics DX, said on the possibility of mergers and acquisitions (M & A) on "CES 2022": "if we can complete mergers and acquisitions faster, we will choose them rather than go it alone." I think there will be good news soon. "
However, there was no latest news of the merger for a whole year.