Cypress sells automotive image sensor biz

By Colleen Taylor -- Electronic News, 3/1/2007

In a move away from the automotive image sensor business, San Jose-based Cypress Semiconductor Corp.  announced Wednesday that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its SMaL Camera Technologies Inc. subsidiary to Sensata Technologies Inc.

The transaction, for which financial details were not disclosed, is expected to close later this quarter.

Cypress purchased SMaL Camera in February 2005 for some $42.5 million.

SMaL Camera provides cameras and camera subsystems to automotive advanced driver assistance systems for such customers as Bosch and Delphi. The company has approximately 25 employees.

"Our decision to divest the business is based on a strategic shift to focus resources onto our custom image sensor business," Cliff Drowley, VP of Cypress's image sensor group, said in a statement.

Drowley added that Cypress will retain its growing custom image sensor business in Mechelen, Belgium.

The sale has gotten a nod of approval from some Wall Street analysts.  "We are encouraged by strategic moves such as this sale, as well as the sale of the Silicon Valley Tech Center earlier in the quarter," Tim Luke, a managing director at investment firm Lehman Brothers, said in a research note this morning.