IXYS to buy 4/8bit MCU unit from Samsung

IXYS Corp. has entered a definitive agreement with Samsung Electronics to acquire its 4/8bit MCU business for about $50 million. As part of the deal, IXYS will receive about 80 products, inventories, IP and other assets exclusively related to the 4/8bit business. The acquisition is subject to various customary closing conditions and is expected to be completed within four weeks from the date of signing of the agreement. The net impact is expected to be accretive for IXYS in the fiscal year ending March 31 next year.

"We plan to gain market share for our MCU and IC products, and expand our customer base in industrial, medical and consumer applications. The 4/8bit products fit with our mixed signal ICs and our power semiconductors, whereby we will be able to offer our customers complete solutions for power management—from the digital control analogue driver ICs to higher power devices," said Nathan Zommer, chair and CEO of IXYS. "The development of this product portfolio has been a strategic decision as part of our 'World of IXYS' marketing and sales initiative."

"Furthermore, with this agreement we expand our foundry relationship with Samsung. We have been strategic partners with Samsung Electronics for more than 25 years, and are looking forward to expanding this business affiliation. Given that some of these MCUs were based originally on Zilog's legendary cores, we expect a seamless transition for the customer base and a quick integration within our Zilog MCU lines," noted Zommer.

Current 4-/8bit products to be acquired by IXYS include MCUs for remote controllers, ultra-low power MCUs and a series of products for home appliances, consumer electronics and LCDs. Applications include battery chargers, thermostats, boiler control, microwaves, e-bikes, LED lighting, power meters, blood pressure meters and smoke detectors.