Austin / Eindhoven / Munich – The Dutch chip manufacturer NXP wants to buy the US competitor Freescale for 16.7 billion dollars (14.9 billion euros), according to information on Monday. This would mean that the former Philips subsidiary would overtake the German semiconductor company Infineon, which has its roots in the Siemens Group, in terms of total sales and in the automotive sector.
The news was received cautiously on the stock market – at least at Infineon. The Dax-listed stock hovered around the previous day’s close, although some analysts see the takeover as evidence of a higher valuation for the sector. However, the share has gained almost 50 percent in value since its 2014 low in mid-October and last week reached its highest level since 2007 at 10.445 euros. In a study, Commerzbank analysts pointed out that the planned merger would increase competitive pressure.
NXP and Freescale shares rise in Europe
NXP wants to cover the majority with its own shares – despite the resulting significant increase in the number of shares, the price of NXP shares rose significantly. In the first minutes of trading on the US technology exchange Nasdaq, where the Dutch company has its regular listing, the market value rose by around 14 percent to around $22 billion. Freescale shares climbed nine percent to $39.40. The market capitalization is therefore more than 12 billion dollars.
Since there has recently been speculation about a takeover, the price of the paper has already increased by around 136 percent since mid-October. The Dutch put $6.25 in cash on the table for each Freescale share as well as an additional 0.3521 of their own shares. This means Freescale is valued at $11.8 billion based on Friday’s NXP closing price. Since the US group, which is currently largely in the hands of financial investors after the spin-off from Motorola, has debts of almost five billion dollars, the total volume of the takeover amounts to 16.7 billion dollars. Annual sales are said to be more than ten billion dollars.