Semiconductor Mergers and Acquisitions in 2015….So Far

It's been a busy year for mergers and acquisitions in the semiconductor industry. In a market that changes so quickly, companies have realized that the only way to stay afloat is to combine forces. Evolution, it seems, is survival. Here's a look back at some of the largest mergers and acquisitions that have happened so far in 2015:

January

Vishay Intertechnology Inc completes acquisition of Capella Microsystems - Vishay, one of the world's largest manufacturers of discrete semiconductors and passive electronic components, completed its acquisiton of Taiwan-based Capella Microsystems Inc., for $205 million. Capella is a fabless IC design company specializing in optoelectronic products.

February

Avago Technologies begins to acquire Emulex Corporation - The $606 million deal will bring a combination of Emulex's connectivity solutions with Avago's Server Storage Connectivity and Fiber Optic products, creating one of the industry's broadest portfolios for Enterprise Storage. "Emulex's connectivity business fits very well with Avago's existing portfolio serving the enterprise storage end market," stated Hock Tan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Avago.
Nxp Semiconductors NV completes Quintic acquisition - The industry giant NXP--which posted a revenue of $4.82 billion in 2013--acquired Quintic's assets and IP related to its Wearable and Bluetooth Low Energy business. "With NXP’s strength in ultra-low power microcontrollers and security, broad IoT application solutions offering, and global sales and distribution reach, the acquired Quintic business should become a true leader in its market," said Mark Hamersma, General Manager and SVP Emerging Businesses at NXP.
Arrow Electronics acquires ATM Electronic Corp - Arrow Electronics, a global provider of products, services, and solutions to industrial and commercial users of electronic components and enterprise computing solutions, bought ATM, a leading electronic component distributor based in Taiwan with substantial operations in China. The acquisition will bolster Arrow’s embedded processor, power management, and passive, electromechanical, and connector (PEMCO) product offerings in Asia.
Silicon Laboratories Inc Acquires Bluegiga - Based out of Espoo, Finland, Bluegiga is one of the fastest growing independent providers of short-range wireless connectivity solutions and software for the IoT, so it would make sense for Silicon Laboratories--provider of microcontroller, wireless connectivity, analog and sensor solutions--to incorporate it as part of their IoT strategy. Tyson Tuttle, CEO of Silicon Labs said, “Bluegiga’s wireless modules and software stacks round out our wireless portfolio and complement our IoT solutions. The addition of Bluegiga wireless modules gives us new ways to deliver simplicity to our customers, enabling developers to easily add wireless connectivity to their designs.”

March

NXP acquires Freescale - It what may be the most talked-about acquisition of the year, NXP announced a $40 billion merger to help secure NXP's mission to be the leader in “Secure Connections for a Smarter World.” The merger made NXP the top automotive semiconductor supplier and general-purpose MCU supplier in the world. It also created a high performance mixed signal semiconductor industry leader, with combined revenue of greater than $10 billion. "The combination of NXP and Freescale creates an industry powerhouse focused on the high growth opportunities in the Smarter World. We fully expect to continue to significantly out-grow the overall market, drive world-class profitability and generate even more cash, which taken together will maximize value for both Freescale and NXP shareholders,” said Richard Clemmer, NXP Chief Executive Officer.
Consortium acquires Integrated Silicon Solution, Inc - ISSI is a fabless semiconductor company that designs and markets high performance integrated circuits for the automotive, industrial, medical, networking, mobile communications, and digital consumer electronics markets.
NXP Semiconductors NV acquires Athena SCS - In another move to establish itself securely in the IoT movement, NXP acquired Athena SCS, a provider of solutions securing the rapidly expanding connected world. Athena SCS Ltd. is an independent UK-based developer of state-of-the art smart card solutions for access, enterprise, eGovernment, transportation, payment and mobile solutions
Lattice Semiconductor closes acquisition of Silicon Image - Lattice Semiconductor, a leading provider of programmable connectivity solutions, closed its acquisition of Silicon Image, Inc., a leading provider of wired and wireless connectivity solutions. Of the merger, Darin G. Billerbeck, Lattice Semiconductor’s President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "...We have significantly expanded our Company’s capabilities, with the addition of MHL, HDMI and 60 GHz Intellectual Property, enhanced our business prospects and financial profile, and further diversified our global customer base."

April

Microsemi completes acquisition of Vitesse - Microsemi, a leading provider of semiconductor solutions differentiated by power, security, reliability and performance, made the move to acquire Vitesse, which designs a diverse portfolio of high-performance semiconductors, application software, and integrated turnkey systems solutions for carrier, enterprise and Internet of Things (IoT) networks worldwide. "This acquisition is further evidence of Microsemi's continuing commitment to grow as a communications semiconductor company," stated James J. Peterson, Microsemi chairman and CEO.
Silicon Motion acquires Shannon Systems - The $57.5 million acquisition joins Silicon Motion, a global leader in NAND flash controllers for solid state storage devices, with a leading supplier of enterprise-class PCIe SSD and storage array solutions to China's internet and other industries. In 2014, Shannon launched the industry's first 6.4TB PCIe SSD with ultra-low access latency and a power envelope of less than 25 watts. More recently, Shannon introduced PCIe-RAIDTM technology, an innovative flash array solution that offers enterprise customers uncompromised performance and high availability.
Nova completes the acquisition of ReVera - Nova, a leading innovator and a key provider of optical metrology solutions for advanced process control used in semiconductor manufacturing, bought ReVera, a leading provider of materials metrology solutions for advanced semiconductor manufacturing for $46.5 million.

May

Avago acquires Broadcom - In another massive acquisition, the chip manufacturer Avago acquired Broadcom, an American fabless semiconductor company in the wireless and broadband communication business, for $37 billion. This puts Avago in the top ranks of semiconductor makers, though still behind Intel and Qualcomm. Avago has been aggressively acquiring companies since it went public in 2009.
Microchip acquires Micrel - The $839 million marries Arizona-based Microchip with the analog semiconductor company Micrel. "Micrel's portfolio of linear and power management products, LAN solutions and timing and communications products, as well as their strong position in the industrial, automotive and communications markets, complement many of Microchip's initiatives in these areas," said Steve Sanghi, president and CEO of Microchip Technology.

June

Intel buys Altera - Altera, a maker of programmable logic semiconductors, was bought by the industry giant for $16.7 billion. In their statement to the public, Intel said, “The acquisition will couple Intel’s leading-edge products and manufacturing process with Altera’s leading field-programmable gate array (FPGA) technology. The combination is expected to enable new classes of products that meet customer needs in the data center and Internet of Things market segments.”

August

Qualcomm acquires Cambridge Silicon Radio Limited - The San Diego-based semiconductor and wireless solutions company Qualcomm completed its acquisition of CSR, a British company specializing in end-to-end semiconductor and software solutions for the Internet of Everything (IoE) and automotive segments.