SiGe Opts for $275M Acquisition Instead of IPO

Andover, MA-based SiGe Semiconductor, which first revealed its plans to go public last July, is instead set to be acquired by another Bay State semiconductor technology company, Skyworks (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SWKS]]). Woburn, MA-based Skyworks, whose analog and mixed signal semiconductors have applications in the military, medical, broadband, mobile, industrial, automotive, and energy management spaces, will pay as much as $275 million for SiGe, with $210 million in cash upfront, and potentially $65 million more if certain milestones are met.

Last year, SiGe proposed to raise $143.8 million in an initial public offering. “Skyworks clearly represents the best strategic and cultural fit for SiGe Semiconductor,” said Sohail Khan, president and chief executive officer of SiGe Semiconductor, in an announcement of the deal. As of last year, SiGe had raised about $130.7 million through the sale of preferred stock. According to a filing amended in March, SiGe, which makes fabless semiconductors for wireless multimedia applications, had revenues last year of $103.3 million, and net profits of $4.1 million. The acquisition by Skyworks has been approved by both company’s boards, and is expected to close in June, subject to customary closing conditions.

Author: Erin Kutz

Erin Kutz has a background in covering business, politics and general news. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Boston University. Erin previously worked in the Boston bureau of Reuters, where she wrote articles on the investment management and mutual fund industries. While in college, she researched for USA Today reporter Jayne O’Donnell’s book, Gen Buy: How Tweens, Teens and Twenty-Somethings Are Revolutionizing Retail. She also spent a semester in Washington, DC, reporting Capitol Hill stories as a correspondent for two Connecticut newspapers and interning in the Money section of USA Today, where she assisted with coverage on the retail and small business beats. Erin got her first taste of reporting at Boston University’s independent student newspaper, as a city section reporter and fact checker and editor of the paper’s weekly business section.