Semtech to Buy Canadian Chip Maker

0

Semtech Corp. said that it would pay about $494 million in cash to acquire Gennum Corp., a Canadian maker of products that enable video and data to be transmitted at high speed over long distances on the Internet.

Semtech, a Camarillo maker of network-focused semiconductor products, said the deal enables it to offer its equipment-manufacturing customers with more ways to differentiate their own high-speed voice, video and data transmission products. Gennum’s semiconductors products are used in broadcast, networking, storage, telecommunications and consumer connectivity equipment.

“Gennum’s strong position in video broadcast and the emerging HD video surveillance market broadens and further diversifies Semtech’s portfolio of high-performance analog semiconductors targeted at fast growing markets,” said Chief Executive Mohan Maheswaran in a statement late Monday.

Gennum, founded in 1973, is based in Burlington, Ontario. It has about 450 employees and offices in nine countries.

The deal is worth $500 million in Canadian dollars. Semtech said it will pay Gennum stockholders $13.55 a share in Canadian dollars. Gennum shareholders will meet in mid-March to vote on the deal. Approval by holders of two-thirds of the company’s shares is required and the deal also required Canadian regulatory approvals.

Semtech said it expects to finance the acquisition through a combination of cash on hand and new bank financing. The company received a financing commitment of up to $400 million from Jefferies Finance LLC. The company expects the deal to add about 20 cents a share to its fiscal 2013 adjusted earnings and more than 40 cents by fiscal 2014. It expects to save about $15 million a year in cost synergies by 2014.

Shares closed up $2.25, or 8.4 percent, to $29.14 on the Nasdaq.

No posts to display