Monday, August 25, 2014: Japan based company, Murata Manufacturing Co Ltd., has entered an agreement to acquire Peregrine Semiconductor Corp. for $465 million. This move has been taken in such a time when mergers and acquisitions in the semiconductor chip industry is flourishing. Just as the news broke, Peregrine shares surged by 61 per cent, trading just below the offer price.
Murata Electronics North America Inc is a subsidiary entirely owned by Murata manufacturing. Peregrine Semiconductor is a radio frequency semiconductor products maker. The acquisition agreement says Murata will buy Peregrine for $12.50 per share in cash for all the shares even if it doesn’t own them. The total transaction value has been estimated as $471 million, rather $465 million excluding Murata’s existing holding. Norio Nakajima, EVP, Director of Communication Business Unit of Murata, said in a statement, “This acquisition will combine Murata’s world-leading mobile RF module capabilities with Peregrine’s best-in-class RF front-end products.”
After the deal is closed California based Peregrine will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Murata while it will continue working on its current business model. The acquisition is expected to close by 2014-end or early 2015. Reports say the North American semiconductor industry has recorded over $11 billion worth of merger deals in just the first half of 2014.
