Demand for cheaper chips and new products to power Internet-connected gadgets is driving consolidation in the semiconductor industry.
Worldwide semiconductor M&A reached $31 billion last year, the most since 2011, according to Thomson Reuters data. In the 12 months through March 2, 472 chip M&A deals were made worldwide, up from 383 in the previous year.
The following is a list of the largest semiconductor deals in the United States since December 2013:
Date Company Target Deal value Rationale Link to story
announced
May 28 Avago Broadcom Corp $37 To improve
Technologies
billion bargaining Ltd position with manufacturers May 7 Microchip Micrel Inc Equity To expand Technology Inc value of offerings in $839 automotive and million communications markets March 1 NXP Freescale $11.8 Makes company Semiconductors Semiconductor billion the industry NV Ltd leader within auto and industrial chip markets Feb. 25 Avago Emulex Corp About $606 To boost server Technologies million storage Ltd business with Emulex's network connectivity business Jan. 27 Lattice Silicon Image About $600 To gain Semiconductor Inc million technology that Corp connects smartphones and tablets to TVs and digital projectors Dec. 1, Cypress Spansion Inc $1.59 To boost 2014 Semiconductor billion microcontroller Corp chips and flash memory products offerings Oct. 15, Qualcomm Inc CSR Plc $2.5 To boost its 2014 billion Bluetooth offerings Sept. 26, Intel Corp 20 pct stake in As much as To catch up in 2014 two Chinese $1.5 a smartphone mobile billion chip industry chipmakers dominated by rival Qualcomm Aug. 22, Murata Remaining stake $465 To strengthen 2014 Manufacturing in Peregrine million its radio Co Ltd Semiconductor frequency chip business Aug. 20, Infineon International About $3 Deal 2014 Technologies Rectifier billion complements its AG high-powered chips with International Rectifier's low-power, energy-efficien t chips June 10, Synaptics Inc Renesas SP $475 To buy the then 2014 Drivers Inc million sole supplier of display chips for Apple iPhones June 9, Analog Devices Hittite $2 billion To boost its 2014 Inc Microwave Corp radio frequency and signal chip offerings April 29, Cirrus Logic Wolfson $489 To boost its 2014 Inc Microelectronics million audio Plc technology offerings Feb. 24, RF Micro TriQuint About $1.6 To capture a (http://reut.rs/1G3Hrmp) 2014 Devices Inc Semiconductor billion larger share of Inc the smartphone chip market Dec. 16, Avago LSI Corp $6.6 To enter (http://reut.rs/1G3Hrmp) 2013 Technologies billion storage chip Ltd market to counter volatility in its main wireless business (Reporting by Anya George Tharakan and Sai Sachin R in Bengaluru; Editing by Joyjeet Das)
