NXP buys Silicon Labs' cellular unit in $285M deal

By Colleen Taylor -- Electronic News, 2/8/2007

NXP Semiconductors has inked a definitive agreement to purchase Silicon Laboratories Inc.'s Aero transceiver, AeroFONE single-chip phone and power amplifier product lines for $285 million in cash. NXP said it may also pay up to an additional $65 million, contingent upon the achievement of certain, undisclosed milestones in the next three years.

Each company's board of directors has approved the definitive agreement. The transaction, which is still subject to regulatory review and other customary conditions, is expected to close by Q1, the companies said.

This is not the first major deal NXP has signed as of late. Just last month, NXP and Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc. (ASE) signed a memorandum of understanding to form a joint venture in Suzhou, China, focused on semiconductor testing and packaging. Coincidently, ASE this week announced it hired a team of advisors to consult on a possible $5.46 billion buyout offer from private equity giant Carlyle Group. NXP, formerly Philips Semiconductors, also was bought out by a private equity consortium in September 2006. The NXP deal was valued at more than $10 billion.