Analog to buy rival Maxim for $21 billion
SAN FRANCISCO: Analog Devices Inc agreed yesterday to acquire rival Maxim Integrated Products Inc for $20.9 billion in stock, heralding what may develop into a new round of consolidation in the $400 billion semiconductor industry.
“Analog Devices will pay 0.63 share for each Maxim share, representing a 22% premium to Maxim’s closing share price on Friday,’’ the two companies said in a statement.
“Analog Devices shareholders will own about 69% of the combined company, which will be valued at about $68 billion including debt.’’
The acquisition of San Jose, California-based Maxim creates a larger rival for Texas Instruments Inc in the market for analog and embedded processor chips, crucial components in the spread of computing and intelligence to everyday devices.
After a lull in such combinations caused by trade tension between China and the United States and regulatory hold-ups, Nvidia Corp won approval for its acquisition of Mellanox Technologies Ltd in the Asian country in March, creating new confidence that deals such as the Maxim purchase can go ahead.
Acquisitions in general are starting to return after several quiet months while companies dealt with the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic.
The move by Analog Devices comes on the heels of Uber Technologies Inc announcing a $2.65 billion deal for Postmates Inc, Allstate Corp agreeing to a record $4 billion takeover of National General Holdings Corp and Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc spending roughly the same amount on a gas pipeline and storage assets.
Some chip deals have either been delayed or abandoned if they require approval in China, the world’s largest market for semiconductors. The US is home to the biggest chunk of the world’s producers of the electronic components.
Analog Devices is currently less than half the size of market leader TI by revenue. While Maxim wouldn’t allow it to close the gap totally, it would broaden the range of products in the analog portfolio, something that TI has touted as helping to cement its dominance.
All three companies specialise in analogue and embedded computing components. Once a sleepy backwater of the industry, this segment has enjoyed a resurgence as the list of uses and customers has grown in recent years.
Analogue chips convert real-world things like sound and pressure into electronic signals, and the rush to add automation to factory equipment and buildings and to move cars toward a world where they won’t need human drivers has stirred new demand.
It’s also a very profitable area of the chip industry. Analog Devices and Maxim have gross margins, or the percentage of sales remaining after deducting the cost of goods sold, in the region of 65%.
Since 2015, the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index has tripled in value. The benchmark index now has a market capitalisation of more than $1.5 trillion.