Lurking Behind Every M&A Is China

Junko Yoshida, EETimes
12/13/2016 00:01 AM EST

SAN FRANCISCO — There has been much buzz in the global semiconductor industry about the accelerated consolidation of chip vendors. But the biggest untold story this year is the presence at the negotiating table — in almost every M&A deal — of Chinese investors, or U.S.-based private equity funds whose money can be traced back to China.

In deals involving Marvell Technology, Micron, Atmel, Anadigics, Micrel, Pericom Semiconductor, PMC-Sierra, Lattice Semiconductor, Western Digital, and more, Chinese bidders have lurked behind practically every attempted — or speculated — negotiation in the last two years.

Although few Chinese investors have actually acquired big chip vendors thus far, Chinese bidders continue to swarm U.S. and European high-tech companies, according to several semiconductor company executives, academia, industry veterans, and observers interviewed by EE Times in recent weeks.

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