Chipmaker Microsemi trumps Skyworks' bid for PMC-Sierra
By Kshitiz Goliya
(Reuters) - Chipmaker Microsemi Corp offered to buy PMC-Sierra Inc for about $2.2 billion, trumping a $2 billion offer from Skyworks Solutions Inc, to expand its offerings for telecom, data center and cloud customers.
PMC-Sierra shares rose as much as 15 percent to $11.73 on Monday, above Microsemi's offer price of $11.50.
Microsemi makes chip equipment and provides software for cloud data. The company has been trying to build up its communications business through a series of acquisitions at a time when an explosion of data from mobile devices has greatly boosted the need for efficient storage hubs.
"The addition of PMC's leading storage business as well as its highly complementary communications business furthers our goal to diversify our revenue stream and product offerings," Microsemi's Chief Strategy Officer Steve Litchfield said on a conference call.
Microsemi said the total value of the deal was $2.4 billion.
The company is offering PMC shareholders $8.75 in cash and 0.0736 of its shares for each share held.
Including Monday's gains, PMC shares have risen more than 50 percent since Oct 5, when Apple Inc supplier Skyworks offered to buy PMC for $10.50 per share in cash.
"This is a much better fit for Microsemi than it is for Skyworks," Stephens Inc analyst Harsh Kumar said. "There is much more overlap on the product side and the end-market side than there is with Skyworks."
PMC and Skyworks did not respond to requests for comment.
Microsemi shareholders will own about 85 percent of the combined company, with PMC-Sierra's shareholders holding the rest.
Microsemi said it expects to achieve more than $100 million in annual cost savings, of which over $75 million is expected in the first full quarter after the deal closes.
The company, which made the offer in a letter to PMC-Sierra's board on Friday, said the deal was expected to add 60 cents to its adjusted earnings per share in the first year after the transaction closes.
Morgan Stanley Senior Funding Inc is providing committed financing for deal, which is expected to close in December.
Stifel is Microsemi's financial adviser for the deal, while O'Melveny & Myers LLP is its legal adviser.
Microsemi shares fell as much as 5.2 percent to $35.39.
(Reporting by Kshitiz Goliya in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Devika Krishna Kumar; Editing by Kirti Pandey and Sayantani Ghosh)
