Compound semiconductor industry Mergers & Acquisitions draw Q3 2006 to a Close

In the RF space, Freescale joined the private equity ranks of Avago and NXP as it agreed to be acquired by a private equity consortium in a transaction worth $17.6 Billion, while Jazz Semiconductor merged with a wholly-owned subsidiary of Acquicor Technology Inc. In the optoelectronics arena, Epistar's move to acquire two more of Taiwan's InGaN LED makers could propel the company into the global top five of InGaN LED suppliers. However, this consolidation has not deterred silicon DRAM manufacturer ProMOS and equipment manufacturer, Hermes-Epitek, from announcing a joint venture to form EpiLED. "Consolidation in the LED market, especially in Taiwan, is a prerequisite to improving product quality and consistency so that the solid state lighting community can start serving the general lighting markets," notes Asif Anwar, GaAs service Director. "While it may seem surprising to many observers that Promos and Hermes-Epitek have chosen to enter this consolidating market, the joint venture can be successful if it is able to harness silicon-style manufacturing philosophies to LED manufacture." "The increased merger and acquisition activity surrounding companies active in the RF industry underlines the continued strength of the RF markets," notes Stephen Entwistle, VP of the Strategy Analytics Strategic Technologies Practice. "The appetite of private equity firms for companies such as Freescale underlines strong performance as a result of healthy demand from end markets."