Renesas to Buy Intersil for $3.2 Billion

Japanese chip maker Renesas Electronics Corp. agreed to buy Intersil Corp. for about $3.2 billion, a deal expected to immediately enhance its gross margins and earnings.

Renesas will pay $22.50 a share for California-based Intersil, a premium of about 43.9% to the company's Aug. 19 closing price.

Intersil shares closed at $19.76 on Monday and rose 7.3% to $21.21 after hours.

After Japanese business daily Nikkei reported the possible deal last month, Renesas said it was considering various growth options including buying Intersil.

Renesas was formed from the chip-making units of NEC Corp., Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and Hitachi Ltd.

The semiconductor industry has experienced a wave of consolidation as chip makers and their suppliers look to build scale in response to slowing growth and rising costs.

In July, Analog Devices Inc. agreed to buy Linear Technology Corp. in a cash-and-stock deal initially valued at $14.8 billion. Avago Technologies Ltd. completed its roughly $37 billion acquisition of rival Broadcom Corp. in February, with the combined company retaining the Broadcom name and AVGO ticker symbol.

Renesas expects to complete the purchase in the first half of 2017 and will finance it with cash on hand.

The companies expect the combination of Renesas microcontroller and system-on-chip technology and Intersil power management and analog capability will help Renesas "address some of the most exciting opportunities in key areas such as automotive, industrial, cloud computing, health care, and the Internet of Things."

Renesas projects the deal will eventually generate synergies of $170 million.

Write to Josh Beckerman at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 12, 2016 21:35 ET (01:35 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.