CHiL Semiconductor Acquired for $75M by International Rectifier

OK, this deal wins the award for clunkiest company names—but it’s an important exit for a Boston-area startup in a tough market. CHiL Semiconductor, based in Tewksbury, MA, confirmed today it is being acquired by International Rectifier (NYSE: [[ticker:IRF]]), based in the Los Angeles area, for $75 million in cash. The deal is expected to close before the end of March.

CHiL Semiconductor, which was founded in 2006, designs computer chips for power management in servers, PCs, and high-performance computing systems. The technology’s main applications are in graphics, gaming, and other high-volume industries.

In a statement, CHiL’s CEO, Ram Sudireddy, said International Rectifier is “an ideal partner for our customers and employees.” He added that the merger could help “create a higher performance and lower cost” technology that would enable end users to create more energy-efficient products.

The sale seems like a decent exit for CHiL’s investors, which include Flybridge Capital Partners, Highland Capital Partners, IdSoft Capital, and Panorama Capital. CHiL has raised a little more than $30 million since its founding. The most recent financing was a $16.7 million Series C round, led by Panorama, in 2008.

International Rectifier was founded in 1947. The venerable power-management firm has manufacturing facilities in Leominster, MA, among other places.

Author: Gregory T. Huang

Greg is a veteran journalist who has covered a wide range of science, technology, and business. As former editor in chief, he overaw daily news, features, and events across Xconomy's national network. Before joining Xconomy, he was a features editor at New Scientist magazine, where he edited and wrote articles on physics, technology, and neuroscience. Previously he was senior writer at Technology Review, where he reported on emerging technologies, R&D, and advances in computing, robotics, and applied physics. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Nature, and The Atlantic Monthly’s website. He was named a New York Times professional fellow in 2003. Greg is the co-author of Guanxi (Simon & Schuster, 2006), about Microsoft in China and the global competition for talent and technology. Before becoming a journalist, he did research at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. He has published 20 papers in scientific journals and conferences and spoken on innovation at Adobe, Amazon, eBay, Google, HP, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other organizations. He has a Master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.