GigOptix Inc. has made a play to acquire fabless semiconductor firm GSI Technology for $6.50 a share of all outstanding GSI stock, or about $154 million.
GigOptix makes semiconductors for long-haul, metro, cloud connectivity, data centers, consumer electronics links and interactive applications. GSI is a maker of SRAM for networking and telecommunications. GigOptix said the offer represents a 32 percent premium over GSI’s closing price and would be offered in stock, cash and dividends.
Michael Yang, a research director for memory and storage at IHS, said GigOptix and GSI likely have similar customer bases. SRAM, he said, is used in the same networking and infrastructure equipment as the optical chips that GigOptix offers.
“This is the largest market for SRAM nowadays,” Yang said.
Avi Katz, chairman and CEO of GigOptix, said in a statement that the combination of products between both companies will “strengthen the value proposition that we provide to our mutual customers” and would enable GigOptix to become a “major lead supplier of semiconductor devices for the new era of high-speed core, metro and cloud connectivity infrastructure markets.”
For its part, GSI Technology said it will review and consider the GigOptix proposal with its financial and legal advisors. It would then respond to the proposal.
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