Freescale Semiconductor may be changing hands once again. The New York Post reports that the Texas chipmaker is in talks with advisers about a potential sale. Freescale stock is up sharply on the news, adding to gains posted earlier in the month on the heels of a strong earnings report.
Nine years ago, Freescale moved into the hands of private equity investors in a $17 billion deal that was at the time the largest-ever buyout of a technology company. The debt that financed that deal has been a drag on Freescale’s earnings, but the company has nonetheless maintained a commitment to spending on research and development.
Freescale was spun off of Motorola in 2004, and focuses on designing chips for automotive, industrial and wireless networking applications. In the wireless infrastructure space, Freescale has supplied chipsets for macrocell base stations to original equipmentmakers like Alcatel-Lucent. In recent years, the company has created solutions for small cell base stations.
Samsung, which has a significant chip business of its own, has been named as a possible buyer for Freescale. Last month Bloomberg quoted Morningstar analyst Dan Baker as saying that Freescale and Atmel could both be potential targets for Samsung.
Despite rumors of a possible sale, Freescale continues to invest in research related to wireless and forge alliances with equipment makers. The company will be focusing on IoT solutions at Mobile World Congress next month.
