Renesas announces $5.9 billion acquisition of Apple supplier Dialog

According to reports, Renesas Electronics of Japan officially announced today that it will acquire Apple's chip supplier, Dialog Semiconductor. The two companies announced in a statement that Renesas Electronics will acquire Dialog Semiconductor for approximately 4.9 billion euros (approximately 5.9 billion US dollars) in cash, equivalent to 67.50 euros per share. Dialog Semiconductor has agreed to the terms of the transaction. The acquisition price is a 20% premium over Dialog Semiconductor's closing price of 56.12 euros last Friday. Since the beginning of the year, the stock price of Dialog Semiconductor has risen by about 25%, mainly due to strong demand for Apple's 5G phones and the stimulation of the sale of the company.

Recently, it was reported that Dialog Semiconductor is in talks with potential acquirers, including Renesas Electronics. According to informed sources at the time, in addition to Renesas Electronics, Dialogue Semiconductor was still in negotiations with STMicroelectronics.

Since last year, there has been a large-scale consolidation in the global semiconductor market, including Nvidia's $40 billion acquisition of British chip manufacturer ARM, AMD's $35 billion acquisition of semiconductor manufacturer Xilinx, ADI's $21 billion acquisition of Maxim, chip supplier Marvel Technology's $10 billion acquisition of semiconductor company Inphi, and SK Hynix's $9 billion acquisition of Intel's memory division. According to data, the transaction volume involving semiconductor companies more than doubled last year, reaching 144 billion US dollars.

Currently, Renesas Electronics has a market value of approximately $20.5 billion and is one of the world's largest suppliers of automotive semiconductors, with European offices in the UK and Germany. In 2019, Renesas Electronics completed the acquisition of Integrated Device Technology (IDT) in the United States. This transaction is worth over $6 billion and will help Renesas Electronics expand beyond the automotive industry.

Dialog Semiconductor and Renesas Electronics have been collaborating for over a decade. Dialog Semiconductor focuses on designing power management chips and announced in August last year that it would collaborate with Renesas Electronics on automotive computing platforms.

Currently, there is a tense situation in global semiconductor supply, with Dialogue Semiconductor and Renesas Electronics also involved. Insiders stated in November last year that Apple is working hard to address the shortage of power management chips for iPhones and other devices. In the automotive industry, semiconductor shortages are forcing car manufacturers to shut down and making their relationships with chip suppliers tense. Like Dialog Semiconductor, Renesas Electronics is also a supplier to Apple. According to reports, Apple had planned to acquire Renesas SP Drivers (55% owned by Renesas) in 2014, but it was later acquired by Synaptics. Ruili Technology provides LCD chips for iPhone screens.

Analysts say that due to the increasing protection of strategic industries such as semiconductors in various countries, this transaction is likely to be investigated. Currently, Nvidia's acquisition of ARM is under review by UK regulatory authorities! (From Xunshi Information)