by Anton Shilov
09/11/2006 | 11:55 PM
Freescale Semiconductor, a leading maker of various microprocessors for different markets, said it is discussing a business deal with “parties” under which Freescale would be acquired. No details regarding the possible transactions were officially announced.
<%BANNER[article]%>“There can be no assurances that any transaction will result from these discussions,” a statement by Freescale reads. The company also noted that it “will not comment further on these discussions unless and until it is appropriate to do so” to protect the interests of its stockholders, employees and customers.
Freescale Semiconductor, which was spun-off from Motorola Corp. several years ago, designs and manufactures various embedded semiconductors for wireless, networking, automotive, consumer and industrial markets. The company is known for its manufacturing of IBM PowerPC micro-architecture based processors.
The Austin, Texas-based maker of semiconductors could be acquired for up to $16 billion, various media report, which will be one of the largest, if not the largest, transaction deals in the semiconductor industry.
A consortium that includes the Texas Pacific Group, the Blackstone Group, Permira and the Carlyle Group has been in talks with Freescale for months about taking it private, New York Times reported citing people close to negotiations.
However, there is one more consortium that includes Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company, Silver Lake Partners, Bain Capital and Apax, who could offer even higher price for the chipmaker, the news-paper noted. In early August the consortium that included with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR), Silver Lake Partners and AlpInvest Partners NV acquired an 80.1% stake in Philips’ Semiconductors business from Royal Philips Electronics for approximately €8.3 billion (approximately, $10.64 billion).