Analysis: TI-National deal a smart use of cash

Bolaji Ojo, EETimes
4/4/2011 8:27 PM EDT

Texas Instruments is not known for making huge acquisitions. Until Monday (April 4), the last time it rocked the market with anything close to or above $1 billion was in 2000 when it acquired Burr-Brown for an eye-popping $7.6 billion. Following that transaction, TI settled into organic growth while gobbling up the occasional bite-size transactions meant to fill product lines on a steady basis.

Rich Templeton, TI president, chairman and CEO, is often unapologetic about his often-stated belief that large acquisitions in the semiconductor industry usually don't make financial sense, often getting the parties stuck in a quagmire.

Click here to read more ...