• March 2012
• February 2012
• January 2012

• December 2011
• November 2011
• October 2011
• September 2011
• August 2011
• July 2011
• June 2011
• May 2011
• April 2011
• March 2011
• February 2011
• January 2011

• December 2010
• November 2010
• October 2010
• September 2010
• August 2010
• July 2010
• June 2010
• May 2010
• April 2010
• March 2010
• February 2010
• January 2010

• December 2009
• November 2009
• October 2009
• September 2009
• August 2009
• July 2009
• June 2009
• May 2009
• April 2009
• March 2009
• February 2009
• January 2009

Aquantia Raises $35M
May 15, 2012
Wall Street Journal
After seeing many competitors fall to the wayside in pursuit of semiconductors to power the next iteration of Ethernet networking, Aquantia has raised $35 million in Series F funding to serve a market that it says has finally arrived. Although companies that specialize in 10 Gigabit Ethernet over copper have been perpetually promising that the market for their chips was right around the corner, it’s finally been ushered in, said company executive Phil Delansay. “We don’t have to say it’s going to start and pick up. It has started.”

AltoBeam Closes $6M Series D Funding
May 14, 2012
Business Wire
AltoBeam, a fabless IC design company developing products for advanced DTV receivers, today announces that it has successfully closed a 6 million US dollars round of Series D funding, led by US Venture Partners (USVP). AltoBeam's other existing investors, DFJ and DFJ DragonFund, Tano Capital, as well as Stanford Professor David Cheriton, participate in the round.

Calxeda Nabs $12M More As It Nears Market
May 14, 2012
Texas TechPulse
Austin-based low voltage semiconductor developer Calxeda has raised another $12M in funding, according to a regulatory filing by the firm today, as the firm is on the cusp of shipping chips for servers based on 32-bit ARM mobile processors.

Bozotti has a dream: to turn round ST's digital problem
May 10, 2012
EE Times
GENEVA Switzerland – Carlo Bozotti, CEO of European chip company STMicroelectronics NV, has a dream. It is to have both sides of his company be successful and that means fixing mobile chip joint venture ST-Ericsson. Bozotti was interviewed on stage at an executive conference organized here by the Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA) industry trade group. His inquisitor was GSA chairman Joep van Beurden, who is also CEO of fabless wireless chip company CSR plc. Bozotti told van Beurden, and through him and audience of senior semiconductor executives, that ST will do "whatever it takes," to fix the problem.

Audience Inc IPO Prices Above Range
May 09, 2012
Reuters
The initial public offering of voice and audio technology company Audience Inc priced above its expected range on Wednesday, according to an underwriter, raising $89.6 million.

EMCORE Corporation Completes Sale of VCSEL-Based Product Lines to Sumitomo Electric Device Innovations
May 08, 2012
GlobeNewswire
EMCORE Corporation, a leading provider of compound semiconductor-based components and subsystems for the fiber optics and solar power markets, announced today that it has completed the sale of its Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSEL)-based product lines to Sumitomo Electric Device Innovations U.S.A., Inc. (SEDU), a subsidiary of Sumitomo Electric Industries, LTD (SEI).

Power Integrations Completes Acquisition of CT-Concept Technologie AG
May 08, 2012
Business Wire
Power Integrations (Nasdaq: POWI), the leader in high-voltage integrated circuits for energy-efficient power conversion, today announced that it has completed the acquisition of CT-Concept Technologie AG (known as CONCEPT), effective May 1.

Synopsys Buys Photonics Design Tool Firm
May 08, 2012
EE Times
EDA and IP vendor Synopsys Inc. said Tuesday (May 8) it completed the acquisition of RSoft Design Group Inc., a provider of photonics design and simulation software headquartered in Ossining, N.Y. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Sagantec Buys Dutch 20-nm EDA Specialist
May 04, 2012
EE Times
EDA company Sagantec North America Inc. (Santa Clara, Calif.) has announced that is has acquired NP Komplete Technologies BV (Eindhoven, The Netherlands), a startup company founded in 2009. Sagantec did not disclose how much it paid.

Porter, White & Co. Advises Technology Firm in $11 Million Funding Deal
May 03, 2012
The Birmingham News
Porter, White & Co. said it acted as financial adviser to NthDegree Technologies Worldwide, which raised $11.2 million in financing from existing investors and new investors identified by the Birmingham firm.

Fujitsu to Transfer Iwate Fab to Denso
May 01, 2012
EE Times
Fujitsu Semiconductor Ltd. will transfer ownership of an older fab that produces microcontrollers to Japanese automotive parts supplier Denso Corp. under the terms of an agreement announced last week.

CrestaTech Secures $13M to Develop Smart Tuners for TV and Mobile Devices
April 30, 2012
Business Wire
CrestaTech today announced it has secured a $13 million round of funding. The investment will be used to accelerate development of Smart Tuner(tm) ICs for the fast-growing market of Smart TV devices.

IDT Buying PLX Tech for $330 million
April 30, 2012
EE Times
Chip vendor Integrated Device Technology Inc. (IDT) said Monday (April 30) it signed a definitive agreement to acquire connectivity chip vendor PLX Technology Inc. in a cash and stock deal worth about $330 million.

IDT Acquires Fox Electronics
April 30, 2012
Business Wire
Integrated Device Technology, Inc., the Analog and Digital Company(tm) delivering essential mixed-signal semiconductor solutions, today announced that it has acquired Fox Electronics, a leading global supplier of frequency control products (FCPs), in an all-cash transaction for approximately $30 million, of which $26 million was paid at closing. Fox Electronics' revenue was approximately $23 million in calendar year 2011, and the company is profitable.

Violin Memory Extends Funding Round to $80M
April 30, 2012
Venture Beat
Flash memory is hot because it runs cooler than other kinds of storage in the data center. It’s also faster and more efficient at storing frequently used data. Violin Memory is one of the companies that is benefiting from this trend in the data center.

Intel buys interconnect assets from Cray
April 26, 2012
EE Times India
Supercomputer maker Cray Inc. has agreed to sell its interconnect hardware development program and related intellectual property to Intel Corporation for Rs.714.29 crore ($140 million). The acquisition will help bolster Intel's high-performance computing (HPC) capabilities.

Amalfi Semiconductor Closes $20 Million in Funding
April 24, 2012
Marketwire
Amalfi Semiconductor, an emerging leader in cost effective, high performance power amplifier solutions for cellular handsets, today announced that it has raised an additional $20 million from existing investors Battery Ventures, DCM and Globespan Capital Partners. Amalfi plans to use the funds to expand its business operations and accelerate new product development programs of its next-generation CMOS power amplifier technologies.

Quantenna Communications Raises $79 Million Led by RUSNANO and Sequoia Capital
April 17, 2012
Business Wire
Quantenna Communications, Inc., the leader in ultra-reliable Wi-Fi video networking for whole-home entertainment, announced today that it has closed a $79 million funding round led by new lead investor RUSNANO, with participation by a second new investor Bright Capital. All existing major investors, Sequoia Capital, DAG Ventures, Grazia Equity, Sigma Partners, Southern Cross Venture Partners and Venrock Associates have also participated in the financing. RUSNANO will invest up to $40 million and Sequoia Capital Growth Fund will contribute $20 million.

RF Monolithics Announces Definitive Agreement to be Acquired by Murata Electronics North America, Inc.
April 13, 2012
Business Wire
RF Monolithics, Inc. (NASDAQ: RFMI - News) (“RFM” or “the Company”), a leader in machine-to-machine (M2M) wireless communications, announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Murata Electronics North America, Inc. for $1.78 per share to holders of RFM common shares, representing an 80% premium over the Nasdaq closing price as of April 12, 2012. The acquisition is expected to close in the third calendar quarter of 2012. Murata Electronics North America’s parent company, Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (“Murata Manufacturing”) (TSE/OSE: 6981), is the world’s number one supplier of passive electronic components.

Abu Dhabi, Saxony Invest in 'Twin Labs' 3-D IC Project
April 13, 2012
EE Times
Advanced Technology Investment Co. (ATIC), the majority owner of foundry chipmaker Globalfoundries Inc. (Milpitas, Calif.), and the State of Saxony in Germany have agreed to invest $4.8 million in twinned laboratories that will research 3-D stacking of integrated circuits.

Chinese VCs Back U.S. Materials Startup
April 13, 2012
EE Times
Polyera Corp. (Skokie, Illinois), a 2005 startup that supplies organic semiconductor, dielectric, and interfacial materials for the flexible and printed electronics industry, has raised $24.5 million in Series C funding.

Entropic Communications Completes Acquisition of Trident Microsystems' Set-Top Box System-on-a-Chip Business Unit
April 12, 2012
Globe Newswire
Entropic Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq:ENTR - News), a world leader in semiconductor solutions for the connected home, today announced it has completed the acquisition of Trident Microsystems' set-top box (STB) system-on-a-chip (SoC) business.

Intel, Xilinx Invest in EDA Startup
April 10, 2012
EE Times
Intel Capital, the venture capital arm of Intel Corp., and programmable logic vendor Xilinx Inc. provided an unspecified amount of funding to EDA startup Oasys Design Systems Inc., Oasys said Tuesday (April 10).

MediaTek Acquires Coresonic
April 10, 2012
PE Hub
MediaTek, a Hsinchu, Taiwan-based fabless semiconductor company, has agreed to acquire the Swedish company Coresonic, a digital signal processor (DSP) maker. Coresonic will become a wholly owned subsidiary of MediaTek in Europe. Terms of the deal are not being disclosed. Eight-year-old Coresonic had raised at least $2 million from venture investors in 2010, including from SEB Venture Capital and Industrifonden.

Intrinsic-ID Gets €5m Funding for Secure Chip IP Business
April 06, 2012
Electronics Weekly
Intrinsic-ID, the security IP and software start-up, has received €5m ($6.7m) in new funding. Eindhoven-based Intrinsic-ID licenses its security IP for integration into smartcards and SIMs, automotive and embedded processors and set-top boxes.

Report: PMC-Sierra Mulls Sale
April 05, 2012
EE Times
Networking chipmaker PMC-Sierra Inc. has had discussions with potential buyers over the last few months, according to a Reuters news service report that cites unnamed sources.

UWB Firm Gets Funds, Makes Ex-Intel Exec Chairman
April 05, 2012
EE Times
Ultrawideband chip company DecaWave Ltd. (Dublin, Ireland) has raised 6 million euro (about $7.9 million) in a second round of financing that brings the total raised by the company to 12.4 million euro (about $16 million).

NXP Buys Dutch Design House for Automotive Thrust
April 04, 2012
EE Times
Dutch chip company NXP Semiconductors NV (Eindhoven, The Netherlands) has agreed to buy electronic design house and IP licensor Catena Holding NV and its subsidiaries for an undisclosed sum. NXP said it plans to put Catena's engineers to work on automotive applications.

Trident Accepts Sigma's Bid for DTV Business
April 04, 2012
EE Times
Sigma Designs Inc. said Monday (April 2) it finalized a deal to acquire Trident Microsystems Inc.'s digital television (DTV) business for $21 million in cash, plus the assumption of some liabilities.

GEO Semiconductor Completes Series A Financing with Final $1 Million in Equity
April 04, 2012
Business Wire
GEO Semiconductor Inc. ("GEO"), the industry leader in programmable, high performance, geometric processor (eWarp) IC solutions for smartphones & peripherals, video communications, surveillance and automotive video camera markets, today announced that it has secured in excess of $1 million in new Series A equity financing, completing its Series A offering. The Company will now fully focus on completing its $10 million Series B funding round and signing additional strategic partners.

Power Integrations Agrees to Acquire CT-Concept Technologie AG
April 02, 2012
Business Wire
Power Integrations (Nasdaq:POWI), the leader in high-voltage integrated circuits for energy-efficient power conversion, today announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire privately held CT-Concept Technologie AG (known as CONCEPT) for approximately 105 million Swiss francs in cash, or about US$115 million, net of cash assumed.

Violin Memory Snags Another $50M in Funding
April 02, 2012
EE Times
Scalable flash memory array vendor Violin Memory Inc. Monday (April 2) announced $50 million in Series D funding from a group of investors including Toshiba Corp., Juniper Networks, SAP Ventures and Highland Capital, among others.

DecaWave Secures Funding and Appoints Irish Tech Veteran as Chairman
March 28, 2012
PE Hub
DecaWave, the pioneering fabless semiconductor company specialising in ultra wideband (UWB) technology for Real Time Location Systems (RTLS) and Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN), has announced ex-Intel VP Jim O’Hara as Chairman of the company. DecaWave has also announced that it has successfully raised a further funding round of 6 million euros ($8 million) from private investors in the US and Europe. This brings the total invested in DecaWave to EUR12.4m.

SAS agrees to take over Covalent’s wafer operations
March 28, 2012
Taipei Times
By Kevin Chen / Staff reporter Taiwanese solar wafer maker Sino-American Silicon Products Inc (SAS, 中美晶) yesterday said it had reached an agreement with Covalent Materials Corp to complete the transfer of the Japanese firm’s silicon wafer business to SAS today.

RDA Microelectronics Acquires Baseband IP from Coolsand
March 27, 2012
Market Wire
SHANGHAI, China, Mar 26, 2012 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) -- RDA Microelectronics /quotes/zigman/1318938/quotes/nls/rda RDA -1.79% ("RDA"), a fabless semiconductor company that designs, develops and markets Radio Frequency (RF) and mixed-signal semiconductors for cellular, connectivity and broadcast applications, today announced that it has acquired all of the baseband intellectual property of Coolsand Holding Co., Ltd., a privately held baseband company with business operations in China, and its subsidiaries ("Coolsand"). The consideration paid is $46 million, comprised of approximately $20 million in cash and 15 million RDA ordinary shares. The market value of the shares totals approximately $26 million as determined by the March 21, 2012 NASDAQ closing price of RDA's American Depositary Shares, each representing six ordinary shares.

Renesas to sell Aomori plant to Fuji Electric
March 27, 2012
Solid State Tech
Renesas Electronics Corp. plans to sell its Aomori Prefecture plant making microcontrollers for automobiles to heavy machinery manufacturer Fuji Electric Co., sources close to the matter said Tuesday.

Oclaro, Opnext to merge
March 27, 2012
EE Times
SAN JOSE, Calif.—Oclaro Inc., a provider of optical communications and laser technology, said Monday (March 26) it agreed to merge with optical module and components vendor Opnext Inc. in an all stock deal.

Powertech to sell Rexchip stake to Kingston
March 27, 2012
Digitimes
Powertech Technology (PTI), a Taiwan-based provider of memory IC packaging and testing service, will sell all of its 9.32% stake in Rexchip Electronics, Elpida Memory's Taiwan-based subsidiary maker of DRAM, to its large shareholder Kingston Technology at the original acquisition cost of NT$3.850 billion (US$131 million), according to decision made by the PTI board of directors on March 26.

Sigma Designs bids for Trident's DTV business
March 22, 2012
EE Times
SAN FRANCISCO—Sigma Designs Inc. said Wednesday (March 21) it signed an asset purchase agreement to serve as a "stalking horse" bidder to acquire assets of Trident Microsystems Inc.'s digital television (DTV) chip business, including products, licensed intellectual property, software and leased facilities, for $21 million in cash

OLED developer Novaled AG files for a $200 million US IPO
March 21, 2012
IPO Home
Novaled AG, which provides doping technology and materials to OLED manufacturers, filed with the SEC on Monday to raise up to $200 million in an initial public offering. The Dresden, Germany-based company, founded in 2001, saw sales increase 154% to $23 million and posted its first profit ($4 million) in 2011. Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank Securities are the joint bookrunners on the deal. Ticker and exchange information were not announced.

Merus Audio raises EUR 1.7m to develop ultra-efficient and compact audio amplifiers
March 20, 2012
EE Times
Merus Audio has raised EUR 1.7 million in its Series A round of financing to help develop audio amplifier ICs targeting a wide range of high-volume consumer electronics applications, including iPod/MP3 speakers, surround and stereo systems, soundbars and TVs.

Cephasonics Completes Management Buyout of Ultrasound Business Unit From Samplify Systems
March 20, 2012
Market Watch
SANTA CLARA, Calif., March 20, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Cephasonics, Inc., a technology-innovation leader focused on delivering mixed-signal semiconductors, modules and subsystems to the imaging and ultrasound markets, today announced that it has completed a management buyout of the Samplify Systems, Inc. ultrasound business and assets. The asset purchase agreement includes all ultrasound-related technology and intellectual property; IC, module and system products; and customer, distribution and partner relationships. Assuring seamless operational continuity, the entire expert marketing, sales and development team joins the new company.

TTI To Acquire Sager Electronics
March 20, 2012
City Biz
FORT WORTH, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--TTI, Inc., a indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, today announced that it has entered into a purchase agreement to acquire Sager Electronics, a privately held electronic component distributor headquartered in Middleborough, Massachusetts

SafeNet Withdraws IPO
March 17, 2012
NASDAQ
SafeNet, which provides data protection hardware and software for enterprises and government agencies, withdrew its plans for an initial public offering on Friday. The Belcamp, MD-based company, founded in 1983, filed in July 2010 for a $300 million IPO. Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan were set to be the lead underwriters on the deal.

M/A-COM Tech Prices IPO Of 6 Mln Shares At $19/Share; At High End Of Range
March 15, 2012
NASDAQ
(RTTNews.com) - M/A-COM Technology Solutions Holdings, Inc., provider of high-performance analog semiconductor solutions, announced the pricing of its initial public offering of 6 million common shares at $19.00 per share, at the high end of its estimate between $17 and $19 per share.

TEL acquires deposition tool vendor
March 15, 2012
EE Times
SAN FRANCISCO—Japanese semiconductor equipment vendor Tokyo Electron Ltd. (TEL) said Friday (March 16) it signed a definitive agreement to acquire Nexx Systems Inc., a supplier of physical vapor deposition tools for thin films and electrochemical deposition tools for metals. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed

Aptos expanding 12-inch wafer level packaging business
March 14, 2012
Digitimes
Aptos Technology, which specializes in backend services for the production of NAND flash chips and devices such as microSD cards, announced March 13 that two of its subsidiaries will merge and integrate their resources and technologies for efficiency reasons. The move will help Aptos expand its 12-inch wafer level packaging business, the company said.

Research In Motion Buys Paratek Microwave
March 14, 2012
Forbes
Research in Motion has acquired Paratek Microwave, a Nashua, New Hampshire-based provider of adaptive tuning technologies for multi-band handsets. RIM, which disclosed the deal in a blog post, noted that it will continue to focus on RF tuning technologies. Terms of the deal were not disclosed

Masimo Buys Spire Semiconductor
March 12, 2012
Social Tech
Irvine-based Masimo, the developer of pulse oximetry devices, said today that it is acquiring substantially all of the assets of Spire Semiconductor, a maker of light emitting diode (LED) and other components, which are used in biomedical applications.

Semtech Acquires Wireless Long Range IP Provider Cycleo
March 08, 2012
EON
CAMARILLO, Calif.--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Semtech Corporation (Nasdaq: SMTC), a leading supplier of analog and mixed-signal semiconductors, today announced it acquired Cycleo SAS and all of its assets, related companies and operations. Headquartered in Grenoble, France, privately-held Cycleo develops IP for wireless long-range semiconductor products used in smart metering and other industrial and consumer markets. Cycleo technology will be incorporated in future Semtech RF platforms that need to deliver extended range at lower cost and lower power.

Alphabet Energy Secures Additional $2 Million in Strategic Capital
March 08, 2012
PR Web
Alphabet Energy Inc., innovator of thermoelectric products for waste-heat recovery, has secured $2 million in debt financing from Hercules Technology Growth Capital. The investment, which follows last quarter's $12 million Series A equity financing led by TPG Biotech, provides Alphabet Energy with the means to accelerate its plans to acquire capital equipment as the company continues the build-out of its new Hayward facility in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Surrey NanoSystems secures £4.5m funding to commercialize next-generation semiconductor fabrication technologies
March 07, 2012
Wolrd Sun
Newhaven, UK, March 7, 2012 --- Surrey NanoSystems has raised third round funding of £4.5 million (~US$7.1m) - one of the largest amounts secured by any UK semiconductor-focused company in the last year - from a consortium led by New Wave Ventures.

4G Chip Supplier GCT Semiconductor Postpones $60 Million IPO
March 01, 2012
NASDAQ
GCT Semiconductor, a fabless supplier of 4G LTE and WiMAX wireless chips, postponed its IPO on Thursday. The San Jose, CA-based company was founded in 1998 and booked $87 million in sales for the 12 months ended 12/31/11. BofA Merrill Lynch was set to be the lead underwriter on the deal.

PMC-Sierra Acquires the Server Storage 12Gb/s Expander Product Line from Maxim
March 01, 2012
Business Wire
SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PMC-Sierra, Inc., (Nasdaq:PMCS) or PMC, the semiconductor innovator transforming storage, optical and mobile networks today announced the Company has acquired Maxim Integrated Products, Inc.’s (Nasdaq:MXIM) 12Gb/s SAS expander technology. PMC expects the acquisition will strengthen its SAS design footprint with leading server OEMs. Combined with PMC’s 12Gb/s SAS RAID-on-Chip (RoC) products, Maxim’s expander technology enables PMC to offer end-to-end 12Gb/s SAS solutions tailored for server platforms. Continued support for Maxim’s industry-leading server expander firmware will preserve OEM investment as they transition from 6Gb/s SAS to 12Gb/s SAS.

Powerchip releases Rexchip, Maxchip shares to PTI
March 01, 2012
Digitimes
DRAM maker Powerchip Technology has released a major portion of its share holdings in Rexchip Electronics and Maxchip Electronics to memory packaging firm Powertech Technology (PTI) to offset the amounts of accounts payable it owned to PTI, according to Powerchip.

AMD to buy microserver startup SeaMicro
March 01, 2012
EE Times
Advanced Micro Devices will acquire microserver startup SeaMicro in a deal worth $334 million, under the terms of a definitive agreement between the two companies announced Wednesday (February 29).

Intel Capital to invest $20 mn in six Indian firms
March 01, 2012
Voice Data
The six companies that Intel Capital plans to invest in are Saankhya Labs Pvt. Ltd., a fabless semiconductor company, Testing Czars, a global independent test engineering and solutions provider for mobile applications; Financial Inclusion Network and Operations (FINO), a business and banking technology platform provider with an extensive services delivery channel, What's on India Pvt. Ltd., India's premier electronic programming guide for television; enStage, an electronic payment solutions and processing provider and DURON Energy Pvt. Ltd., a pioneer in affordable solar power products designed for off-grid use in emerging markets. Three investments – Saankhya Labs, Testing Czars, and FINO – have been completed. Intel Capital has signed investment agreements with What's on India, enStage and DURON Energy. Details of these six investments, including the amount to be invested in each company were not disclosed.

Cambrios Technologies Enters Strategic Growth Phase with New CEO, John LeMoncheck, and New Funding from Samsung Venture Investment Corporation
March 01, 2012
Market Watch
SUNNYVALE, Calif., Jan 31, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Cambrios Technologies Corporation, the leader in nanotechnology-based solutions to enable the development of electronic devices with transparent conductors, entered a new strategic phase today with the appointment of John LeMoncheck as President and CEO, and a $5 million Series D-3 financing round from Samsung Venture Investment Corporation. Both announcements advance Cambrios' efforts to accelerate product introductions and commercial growth in multiple consumer electronic device markets. Dr. Michael R Knapp, Cambrios founding President and CEO, will become Chairman.

Nitride Solutions Inc., Funding A
March 01, 2012
Nitride Solutions
Nitride Solutions Inc., a leading developer of next-generation nitride substrates for LEDs, lasers and power electronics, announced today that it has closed its Series A financing. The round was oversubscribed and closed at $2.5M. Nebraska Angels and Aurora UV again joined lead investor Midwest Venture Alliance in completing the round. Nitride will use the funding to perfect the technology and begin sampling in Q1.

Entropic Communications Selected to Acquire Trident Set-Top Box System-on-a-Chip Assets and Intellectual Property
February 27, 2012
Market Watch
SAN DIEGO, Feb 27, 2012 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) -- Entropic Communications, Inc. /quotes/zigman/107330/quotes/nls/entr ENTR -0.75% , a leading provider of silicon and software solutions to enable connected home entertainment, today announced it has been selected as the successful bidder to acquire Trident Microsystems' set-top box (STB) system-on-a-chip (SoC) assets for a purchase price of $65 million, a $10 million dollar increase to its original offer

Luxtera Inks $21.7M Series C
February 27, 2012
PE Hub
Luxtera closes $21.7 Million C round of growth capital financing to support design win opportunities and market adoption of Silicon CMOS Photonics

Globalfoundries to acquire ProMOS for NT$20-30 billion, say sources
February 24, 2012
Digitimes
Globalfoundries reportedly has agreed to take over financially-troubled ProMOS Technologies for NT$20-30 billion (US$0.7-1 billion), according to industry sources. By adding ProMOS' 12-inch wafer fab in Taichung, central Taiwan to its global manufacturing facilities, Globalfoundries will be striving for orders from IC design houses in China and Taiwan, the sources indicated.

Micron becomes largest shareholder of Inotera
February 23, 2012
Digitimes
US-based DRAM maker Micron has taken up new shares released by Inotera Memories in a private placement for about NT$5 billion (US$169.1 million), or NT$6.55 per share. Consequently, Micron becomes the largest shareholder of Inotera with a 40% stake.

Inside Secure completes IPO
February 22, 2012
NFC Year
Shares in the first NFC specialist to go public were oversubscribed by five times and the offer price was set at the high end of the range at €8.30 per share, netting the firm €69m and giving it a market capitalisation of €261m. INSIDE SECURE: Strong demand for shares NFC and contactless technology specialist Inside Secure has successfully completed its initial public offering and its shares have begun trading on the NYSE Euronext Paris exchange, using the ticker symbol INSD. The company announced its IPO on 7 February with a price range of €7 to €8.54. On the day, shares were oversubscribed five times and the offer price was set at €8.30, at the higher end of the range, valuing the company at €261m. An additional €10.3m may also now be raised, bringing the total to €79.3m, if an over-allotment option granted by Inside Secure to joint lead managers and joint bookrunners BNP Paribas and Natixis is exercised in its entirety. "The strong demand for our shares illustrates the confidence of investors in our business model, our strategy and the outlook for the growth of Inside Secure on its markets," says Rémy de Tonnac, Inside's CEO. "We are one of the pioneers of near field communication (NFC) technology which marks a real technological and social breakthrough in the mobile phone world and beyond. Thanks to the support of our shareholders and our unique positioning, Inside Secure has all the assets it needs to continue to innovate and to pursue its development on its markets." • Inside Secure has ended its first day of trading up 10.84% at €9.20.

C3Nano Closes $6.7M
February 16, 2012
PE Hub
C3Nano Inc., a Hayward, Calif.-based developer of nanomaterials-based transparent conductive film, has raised $6.7 millionin Series B financing, the company announced Thursday. Phoenix Venture Partners led the round, with participation from existing investor GSR Ventures. The company has raised more than $10 million to date. As a result of the latest round, Nobi Kambe of Phoenix Venture Partners will join the company’s board. -cn

Black Sand Technologies Closes $10M Series C Funding
February 15, 2012
Market Wire
AUSTIN, Texas, Feb 14, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Black Sand Technologies, Inc, a fabless semiconductor company specializing in advanced power amplifier technology for wireless applications, today announced that it has received US$10 million in third-round (series C) funding, as it ramps volume production of its range of silicon power amplifiers for use in 3G phones, tablets and datacards. The latest funding round was led by existing investors Northbridge Venture Partners and Austin Ventures

MRAM startup raises VC fund of $36 million
February 15, 2012
EE Times
LONDON – Spin Transfer Technologies Inc., a startup pursing the development of a type of magnetic random access memory, has raised $36 million in a series A funding round led by Allied Minds Inc. and Invesco Asset Management.

Bridgelux Inc. said that it raised $25 million
February 14, 2012
PE Hub
Bridgelux Inc. said that it raised $25 million from Kaistar Lighting (Xiamen) Co., Ltd. The money will allow the maker of LED chips for lighting to accelerate research, development, and production of its chips and packaging technology.

Javelin Semiconductor Closes Series D Funding
February 13, 2012
Javelinsemi.com
AUSTIN, Texas – Feb. 8, 2012 – Javelin Semiconductor, Inc., today announced that it has secured $5 million in its fourth round of funding, which was led by existing investors Sevin Rosen Funds and Silverton Partners. The company is ramping revenue and the funds will be used to hire additional employees and accelerate volume production of its family of CMOS 3G power amplifiers (PAs) covering all major 3G frequency bands.

Soitec funded for 50MW solar power plant in South Africa
February 13, 2012
Electronics Weekly
Soitec has secured financing from one of the largest investment banks in Africa to build the company’s planned 50-megawatt peak solar power plant in Touwsrivier, Western Cape, South Africa.

Toumaz raises £11.2mln to develop new connectivity chip
February 13, 2012
Proactive Investors
Toumaz (LON:TMZ) today told investors that it traded in line with expectations in 2011 and raised £11.2 million via a share placing to fund the development of a new connectivity chip by subsidiary Toumaz Microsystems.

Soft Machines Secures $40 Million in Total Funding
February 13, 2012
Tech Finance
Santa Clara, California based Soft Machines, Inc., a stealth mode semiconductor company, has raised $15 million from three investors, according to the company’s SEC filling. The new round of financing is on the $25 million Soft Machines has raised recently.

R2 Semiconductor raised $10.1 million
February 08, 2012
Business Journal
R2 Semiconductor raised $10.1 million, according to regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Amalfi Semiconductor raises $8M
February 08, 2012
Business Journal
Amalfi Semiconductor Inc. has raised $8 million of a $12 million offering, according to a regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday.

Plessey buys Cambridge spin-off for HB LEDs
February 07, 2012
EE Times
MANHASSET, NY -- Gallium nitride on silicon substrates is gaining momentum as Plessey Semiconductors acquires CamGaN Ltd., a University of Cambridge spin-out, for its proprietary gallium nitride-on-silicon technology.

Rambus Inc. (RMBS) Announces Acquisition of Unity Semiconductor for $35 Million in Cash
February 06, 2012
Street Insider
Rambus Inc. (NASDAQ: RMBS) today announced it has acquired privately-held Unity Semiconductor, an innovative memory technology company for an aggregate of $35 million in cash. As part of this acquisition, the Unity team members have joined Rambus to continue developing innovations and solutions for next-generation non-volatile memory. This acquisition will expand the breadth of Rambus’ breakthrough memory technologies and will open up new markets for licensing. The boards of directors of both companies have approved the acquisition and it has closed.

Praxair Sells Advanced Components Business
February 03, 2012
Market Watch
DANBURY, Conn., Feb 01, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Praxair, Inc. /quotes/zigman/238768/quotes/nls/px PX -0.45% has executed a definitive agreement by which Praxair sold its advanced components business to FM Industries, Inc. of Fremont, Calif. FM Industries is a wholly-owned subsidiary of NGK Insulators of Japan. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Polatis picks up $2.7M in new funding
February 03, 2012
Mass Tech
Andover optical networking company Polatis Inc. has landed $2.7 million in new funds to help it develop new products in the data center interconnect, carrier and government markets.

eoSemi secures $2.3m second tranche of funding
February 02, 2012
Electronics Weekly
Bucking the trend of semiconductor startups struggling to raise funding, eoSemi has raised a second round of $2.3m for its all-silicon oscillator IP.

BSE Group Achieves Major Milestone With Management of $150 Million Semiconductor Equipment Portfolio
January 30, 2012
MarketWire
Boston Semi Equipment, LLC (BSE Group), announced that its Test Advantage Capital Group's portfolio of semiconductor manufacturing equipment under management has surpassed $150 million, a major milestone for the company. Test Advantage Capital, formed with its partner, Somerset Capital Group, develops structured financing plans for customers to acquire assets using alternative financing strategies that increase flexibility and financial efficiency. Boston Semi Equipment's growing leasing business has also received a $100 million annual commitment from its financial partner, Wafra Capital Partners ("Wafra")

MagnaChip to Acquire Dawin Electronics, Designer and Manufacturer of Power Modules
January 27, 2012
Business Journal
MagnaChip Semiconductor Corporation ("MagnaChip") (NYSE: MX) today announced that its Korean subsidiary has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Dawin Electronics Co. Ltd., a privately held semiconductor company that designs and manufactures Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT), Fast Recovery Diode (FRD) and MOSFET modules. Dawin Electronics is headquartered in Incheon, South Korea, and has sales offices in China and Europe. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Bluespec continues to attract venture money
January 27, 2012
EE Times
I have just heard that Bluespec has completed another round of venture financing, bringing in further $1.5M from 4 investors. This is on top of the $18.25M they have previously raised.

Qualcomm buys MEMS display startup, reportedly for $175M
January 26, 2012
EE Times
Communications technology company Qualcomm Inc. has bought fabless MEMS display startup Pixtronix Inc. Qualcomm (San Diego, Calif.) confirmed the purchase but did not give any details and declined to discuss the price. However, reportedly, Qualcomm has paid between $175 million and $200 million.

MTPV Completes $10M Series B Financing
January 26, 2012
PR Web
MTPV, a clean energy semiconductor chip company, announced today that it raised an additional $3.25 million in the final closing of its series B financing. The funding, provided by Northwater Capital Management, Inc. and a follow-on investment from Applied Ventures, LLC, the venture capital arm of Applied Materials, Inc., completes the round that started with a $6.75M closing in August of last year.

Semiconductor startup Avalanche closes $11.5M funding round
January 24, 2012
Venture Beat
A startup is hard at work making a new type of high-speed memory that stores data even when the power is turned off. Avalanche Technology, a company focused on Spring Programmable Memory (SPMEM) non-volatile memory class storage solutions (not pictured), has raised $11.5 million in a new round of funding

Semtech to buy Gennum for $494 million
January 24, 2012
EE Times
Analog and mixed-signal semiconductor vendor Semtech Corp. said Monday (Jan. 23) it entered into a definitive agreement to acquire fellow analog and mixed-signal chip supplier Gennum Corp. in a cash deal worth about $494 million.

Sunnyvale-based Stretch raises $5M
January 24, 2012
Business Journal
Stretch Inc. .. has raised $5.1 million of a potential $7.3 million, according to a regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission .. on Wednesday.

Micron to Acquire Virtensys
January 24, 2012
Zacks Research
Semiconductor-based memory chip manufacturer Micron Technology Inc. (MU) recently announced its intention of acquiring U.K.-based tech start-up Virtensys Ltd., for an undisclosed sum.

Maxim acquires LTE chip firm
January 23, 2012
EE Times
Analog and mixed-signal IC maker Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (Sunnyvale, Calif.) has acquired Genasic Design Systems Ltd. (Riseley, England), a fabless RF chip company founded in 2009, for an undisclosed amount.

Advanced Semiconductor's China Unit Plans To Raise Up To US$87.89 Million In Shanghai IPO
January 23, 2012
Smart Money
Universal Scientific Industrial (Shanghai) Co. (601231.SH), which manufactures electronics products, said in a filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange it plans to sell up to 106.8 million A-shares, or 11% of its enlarged capital, in the IPO. It said it would start gauging investor interest in the offering Friday and price the IPO Feb. 13.

Intel buys Qlogic InfiniBand business for $125 million
January 23, 2012
EE Times
Intel Corp. has agreed to buy product lines and assets associated with the InfiniBand standard from Qlogic Corp. for $125 million in cash. A significant number of the employees associated with this business are expected accept offers to join Intel.

Microsemi Buys Timing, Synchronization & Synthesis Unit From Maxim Integrated
January 19, 2012
NASDAQ
Microsemi Corp. (MSCC) said it has acquired the telecom clock generation, synchronization, packet timing and synthesis business from Maxim Integrated Products, Inc. (MXIM). The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Audience files for $75M IPO
January 17, 2012
The Business Journal
Audience Inc. .. filed plans with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission .. on Jan. 13 to raise $75 million in an IPO.

Vishay Intertechnology Announces Acquisition of HiRel Systems LLC, a Specialty Inductor Company
January 17, 2012
Business Wire
Vishay Intertechnology, (NYSE: VSH - News), one of the world's largest manufacturers of discrete semiconductors and passive electronic components, today announced the acquisition of HiRel Systems LLC, a leading supplier of high reliability transformers, inductors, coils, and power conversion products.

Semprius Closes $3 Million in Funding
January 12, 2012
BusinessWire
Semprius, Inc., an innovator in high concentration photovoltaic (HCPV) solar modules, recently secured an additional $3 million in its latest round of venture funding. Morgan Creek Capital Management, Illinois Emerging Technologies Fund, a fund managed by IllinoisVENTURES, and In-Q-Tel contributed to the investment round. IllinoisVENTURES and In-Q-Tel are existing shareholders in the company.

Crystal IS acquired by Asahi Kasei of Japan
January 11, 2012
Business Review
Crystal IS .. , an early-stage developer of ultraviolet light-emitting diodes, was acquired by Asahi Kasei of Japan, the companies announced Wednesday.

Intevac Announces Sale of Semiconductor Mainframe Technology to Brooks Automation
January 09, 2012
Marketwire
Intevac, Inc. /quotes/zigman/54874/quotes/nls/ivac IVAC -1.72% announced today it has sold its Continuum(TM) semiconductor mainframe technology, including all intellectual property and residual assets, to Brooks Automation, Inc. ("Brooks"). Brooks is a leading supplier of vacuum mainframes to semiconductor front-end manufacturing and adjacent markets.

Inari: Amertron buy to boost revenue
January 09, 2012
Business Times
Inari, an electronics manufacturing services (EMS) provider, and Amertron Global, a Cayman Islands-incorporated company, inked a memorandum of understanding today to start negotiations for the acquisition, expected to be completed in the second half of this year.

Francisco Partners acquires Tualatin's Ichor Systems
January 09, 2012
Portland Business Journal
Ichor Systems Inc., a Tualatin-based maker of equipment used in semiconductor manufacturing that’s nearing $500 million in sales, has been sold from one private equity firm to another.

Flowmaster buy boosts Mentor's push into CAE
January 09, 2012
EE Times
Taking a step into the adjacent computer-aided engineering space, EDA vendor Mentor Graphics Corp. said Monday (Jan. 9) it acquired the Flowmaster Group, a provider of computational fluid dynamics simulation software for system design. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed

Docomo, Samsung team up on smartphone chip venture to challenge Qualcomm
January 05, 2012
Apple Insider
Japanese wireless operator NTT Docomo has partnered up with Samsung and several other companies to set up a fabless semiconductor joint venture aimed at producing mobile device chips that will compete with market leader Qualcomm.

SuVolta Raises $17.6 Million in Venture Funding
January 05, 2012
Marketwatch
SuVolta, Inc., the developer of PowerShrink(TM) low-power IC technology that cuts chip power consumption by 50 to 90 percent, today announced that it has secured $17.6 million in venture funding. The company will use the funding to continue to develop low-power silicon technologies for the world's most advanced semiconductor processes. New investor Bright Capital participated in the round, joining all existing SuVolta investors including Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), August Capital, New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Northgate Capital, DAG Ventures and others.

Mindspeed Technologies to Acquire Picochip
January 05, 2012
Yahoo Finance
Mindspeed Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: MSPD - News), a leading supplier of semiconductor solutions for network infrastructure applications, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire U.K.-based Picochip Limited, a leading supplier of integrated system-on-chip (SoC) solutions for small cell base stations, for a purchase price of approximately $51.8 million, plus a potential earnout payment of up to $25 million payable in the first calendar quarter of 2013.

Entropic Communications Files Intent to Purchase Trident Microsystems' Set-Top Box Business Unit
January 04, 2012
Yahoo Finance
Entropic Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq:ENTR - News), a leading provider of silicon and software solutions to enable connected home entertainment, today announced it has filed an asset purchase agreement as "stalking horse" bidder to purchase certain assets of Trident Microsystems' (Nasdaq:TRID - News) set-top box (STB) system on a chip (SoC) business in connection with Trident's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing on January 4, 2012. The planned USD$55 million acquisition would bring together two highly complementary technologies, product lines, and teams.

Entropic bids $55M for Trident set-top SoCs
January 04, 2012
EE Times
Home networking specialist Entropic Communications Inc. bid $55 million to acquire set-top box SoC assets of graphics chip designer Trident Microsystems as Trident filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Marvell's buy of Xelerated lines up comms offerings
January 04, 2012
EE Times
Marvell announced it has completed the acquisition of Sweden-based Xelerated, AB, a provider of network processing and programmable Ethernet switching solutions

Action Products International Announces Acquisition of Core Wafer Systems, Inc.
January 04, 2012
Biz Journal
The purchase of Core Wafer Systems, Inc., a hardware and software test systems and solution services firm, delivers extraordinary revenue growth, increases bottom-line profits and boosts the intellectual property and assets for Action Products.

Redlen Technologies Secures Additional Series C Funding
January 04, 2012
Tech Finance
Redlen Technologies Inc. has added additional funding to its Series C round of financing led by BC Advantage Funds (VCC) Ltd. and Export Development Canada (EDC),

Lattice Announces Transfer of Its Standard Military Drawing (SMD) Product Line to Arrow Electronics Inc.
January 03, 2012
Marketwire
Lattice Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ: LSCC) today announced the transfer of its Standard Military Drawing (SMD) product portfolio to Arrow Electronics Inc., effective immediately. Lattice's SMD products include the GAL® family (GAL16V8, GAL20V8 and GAL22V10) of simple PLDs and the ispLSI®1000 family (ispLSI 1016, ispLSI 1024, ispLSI 1032 and ispLSI 1048) of complex PLDs. Lattice's SMD products were formally discontinued by Lattice via its Product Change Notification (PCN) process in 2011. A copy of PCN 05A-10 can be found here. By transferring the SMD product family to Arrow Electronics, Lattice SMD customers now have a new supply channel that can support the ongoing demand for these popular devices.

Semiconductor raises $10.1M
January 01, 2012
Business Journal
R2 Semiconductor raised $10.1 million, according to regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Tessera subsidiary acquires 73 memory chip patents
December 30, 2011
EE Times Asia
Tesssera Technologies Inc. subsidiary Invensas Corp. has acquired 73 memory chip patents from MoSys Inc. Invensas is paying $35 million in cash for the patents.

Docomo, Samsung team up on smartphone chip venture to challenge Qualcomm
December 27, 2011
Apple Insider
Japanese wireless operator NTT Docomo has partnered up with Samsung and several other companies to set up a fabless semiconductor joint venture aimed at producing mobile device chips that will compete with market leader Qualcomm.

Sony, Samsung shift to new LCD panel business alliance
December 27, 2011
Digitimes
Sony and Samsung Electronics have announced that the two companies have signed agreements to transition the current business relationship with respect to LCD panels.

Soitec agrees to buy Altatech
December 23, 2011
Semiconductor Today
Soitec of Bernin, France, which makes engineered substrates including silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers (as well as III-V epiwafers through its Picogiga International division), has entered into a letter of intent to acquire, by the end of January, all of the outstanding shares of Altatech Semiconductor of Montbonnot Saint Martin, near Grenoble, France, which makes wafer inspection and analysis, liquid-vaporization chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and nanoprinting equipment. Earlier this month, Altatech also launched its first product designed specifically for detecting, classifying and characterizing defects on wafers used in manufacturing LEDs.

ST New Ventures Looks Beyond Chip Firms
December 22, 2011
EE Times
Formation of the corporate venture capital fund ST New Ventures might be seen as a timely response to the much-bemoaned shortfall in funding for fabless chip companies – but it isn't. Loic Lietar (shown), the fund's managing director, explains.

Linear Technology acquires Dust Networks
December 21, 2011
EE Times
-- Linear Technology has acquired Dust Networks a provider of low-power wireless sensor network (WSN) technology.

Sanyo to sell subsidiary factory in central Taiwan to ASE
December 20, 2011
Digitimes
Sanyo Electronic (Taichung), a subsidiary of Japan-based Sanyo Electric, plans to sell its IC packaging/testing factory located in central Taiwan to the Taiwan-based Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE), according to industry sources in Taiwan.

GloabalFoundries planning to buy Taiwan semiconductor factory
December 19, 2011
China Times
American semiconductor manufacturer GlobalFoundries is reportedly considering the purchase of a foundry belonging to Taiwan's Powerchip Technology and ProMos Technologies.

Mosaid bought by finance firm for $570 million
December 19, 2011
EE Times
Canadian IP licensor Mosaid Technologies Inc. has said that shareholders have approved a plan for Sterling Fund Management LLC, a private equity company, to acquire the company for a cash payment of $46 Canadian a share or about $590 million (Canadian or about US$570 million).

EnVerv Raises $12 Million to Advance Power Line Communications Chips
December 19, 2011
XConomy
EnVerv, a chip design firm based in San Jose, CA, says this morning it has raised $12 million in a Series B round for its “system-on-a-chip” technology, which enables a utility to use its own power lines to serve as a smart grid communications network.

ST creates early-stage venture capital fund
December 16, 2011
EE Times
STMicroelectronics NV, Europe's leading chip company, has announced the launch of ST New Ventures, a corporate venture capital fund. However, the announcement did not indicate how much money the organization has at its disposal.

Startup support: two initiatives with one idea
December 16, 2011
EE Times
So we have the Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA) and its Capital Lite Working Group meeting and planning in Silicon Valley (see Group tackles declining VC for chips in the November edition of EE Times Confidential) at the same time as the European Microelectronics Academy (EMA) is formed on this side of the Atlantic (see Mentor offshoot nurtures European startups).

BinOptics Attracts $13.3 Million in Funding
December 15, 2011
Market Wire
BinOptics Corporation today announced it has closed $13.3 million in new funding. The Ithaca-based manufacturer of lasers and monolithically integrated optoelectronic components will use the funding to continue expansion of its product lines and to accelerate development of new products. Five new investors participated in this round: Advantage Capital Partners, Enhanced Capital Partners, Gefinor Ventures, Onondaga Venture Capital Fund, and Rand Capital (NASDAQ: RAND - News). Existing investors ArrowPath Venture Partners, Cayuga Venture Fund, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and FA Technology Ventures also participated.

Stakeholders see turning point for chip industry
December 14, 2011
EE TIMES
The semiconductor industry is at an inflection point that will determine its course for years to come, according to an informal survey of respected industry executives. The days of fabless semiconductor startups’ receiving $100 million or $200 million to develop new generations of complex system-on-chip products are over. Venture capital firms have not received the returns required to justify such investments, and the partners who championed them are out.

Lam to buy Novellus in $3.3B, all-stock deal
December 14, 2011
EE Times
Lam Research Corp. said Wednesday (Dec. 14) it would acquire rival semiconductor capital equipment maker Novellus Systems Corp. in an all-stock deal valued at about $3.3 billion.

Apple in talks to buy Anobit for $400-$500 million
December 13, 2011
Reuters
Apple Inc is in talks to buy Israel's Anobit, a maker of flash storage technology, for as much as $500 million, according to a report published on Tuesday.

Broadcom to buy Israeli startup Broadlight
December 13, 2011
EE Times
Broadcom Corp. has decided to acquire Israeli networking and embedded processor developer Broadlight Ltd. for approximately $200 million according to Israeli business news sources.

Lattice Semiconductor Corp. has agreed to acquire SiliconBlue Technologies
December 10, 2011
Market Watch
Lattice Semiconductor to Acquire SiliconBlue Acquisition Will Extend Lattice's Leadership Position in the Highly Attractive Mobile Consumer and Handheld Market

In search of new chip startup funding models
December 07, 2011
EE Times
We've heard it so many times, by now it sounds like a broken record: venture capitalists, long the lifeblood nurturing a thriving community of semiconductor startups, have all but abandoned the chip industry, turning instead to social media and green energy technologies, where the common wisdom is a smaller investment can go a lot further.

DSP Group Announces Acquisition of BoneTone Communications
December 05, 2011
Global News Wire
DSP Group(R), Inc. (Nasdaq:DSPG), a leading global provider of wireless chipset solutions for converged communications at home, is pleased to announce today the exercising of its option to acquire BoneTone Communications, a provider of innovative chip solutions that redefine audio quality and voice intelligibility in mobile devices and headsets. The acquisition provides DSP Group with diversification and cutting-edge technology in the promising and fast-growing mobile device market. BoneTone's products are expected to generate revenues already in 2012.

GainSpan Closes $18 Million Series C Financing
December 05, 2011
Market Wire
SAN JOSE, CA, Dec 05, 2011 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- GainSpan(R) Corporation, a leading developer of ultra-low power embedded Wi-Fi solutions, today announced that it has raised $18 million in Series C funding.

EDA standards bodies Accellera, OSCI merge
December 05, 2011
EE TIMES
As expected, EDA and intellectual property (IP) standards development organizations Accellera and the Open SystemC Initiative (OSCI) said Monday (Dec. 5) their members and boards have approved their merger.

Agilent Technologies Signs Acquisition Agreement with Accelicon Technologies
December 02, 2011
Agilent.com
Agilent Technologies Signs Acquisition Agreement with Accelicon Technologies

Qualcomm acquires Pixtronix, Andover company developing tech for low-power displays
December 02, 2011
Boston.com
San Diego-based Qualcomm, a major developer and licensor of mobile technology, quietly scooped up Pixtronix last week. The Andover company, founded in 2005, has been working on multimedia display screens for phones, tablets, and laptops that would use just one-quarter of the power of today's liquid crystal displays. With today's mobile devices, the display is typically the component that uses the most power.

Hua Hong NEC, Grace close to merger
December 01, 2011
Reuters
HONG KONG/SHANGHAI, Dec 1 (Reuters) - China's second- and third-largest contract chipmakers Shanghai Hua Hong NEC and Grace Semiconductor have agreed to merge in a sector in need of a consolidation and technology upgrades, sources said on Thursday

Movidius secures $9m funding
November 30, 2011
Irish Times
Computer chip designer Movidius has closed a $9 million (€6.75 million) funding round from existing investors including Celtic House Venture Partners, Capital E, Emertec Gestion and AIB Seed Capital Fund

Synopsys to buy Magma for $507 million
November 30, 2011
EE Times
SAN FRANCISCO—EDA and IP vendor Synopsys Inc. said Wednesday (Nov. 30) it signed a definitive agreement to acquire rival EDA vendor Magma Design Automation Inc. in a deal worth about $507 million.

Skorpios Technologies Receives $2 Million Follow-on Investment
November 29, 2011
Sacramento Bee
Skorpios Technologies Receives $2 Million Follow-on Investment Bringing Series B to $21 Million

Walton to buy stake in Elpida subsidiary
November 28, 2011
Digitimes
Elpida Memory has announced that Taiwan-based Walton Advanced Engineering, which provides packaging and testing services mainly for DRAM products, has agreed to make a JPY3.75 billion (US$50 million) investment in subsidiary EBS.

Nanometrics Acquires Nanda Technologies
November 22, 2011
Market Watch
MILPITAS, Calif., Nov 21, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Nanometrics Incorporated /quotes/zigman/75791/quotes/nls/nano NANO -2.25% , a leading supplier of solutions for advanced process control, today announced the acquisition of Nanda Technologies, GmbH ("Nanda") of Munich, Germany. Nanda has developed a high-throughput, high-sensitivity defect inspection technology for semiconductor manufacturing. With this acquisition, Nanometrics adds a highly differentiated and leading-edge macro defect inspection technology to its portfolio of industry-leading metrology solutions.

Amalfi Semiconductor Lands $9,219,254 New Round
November 22, 2011
Xconomy

eSilicon Lands $2,025,000 New Financing
November 22, 2011
Xconomy

Precision Mechatronics acquires Surfx Technologies
November 21, 2011
PACE
Precision Mechatronics has acquired US-based Surfx Technologies, a specialist company offering high-speed atmospheric plasma technology for treating microelectro-mechanical systems (MEMS), microfluidics, semiconductors, solar cells, medical devices, sensors, plastics and composites.

ASE to acquire 100% stake in Power ASE
November 11, 2011
Digitiimes
IC packager Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE) has announced plans to acquire up to 107 million shares of Power ASE Technology, a joint venture with memory chipmaker Powerchip Technology, at US$18.50 (US$0.61) each. The acquisition is scheduled to complete on November 18, ASE said

SK Telecom Board Decides To Submit Final Bid For Hynix Stake
November 10, 2011
WSJ
The board of SK Telecom Co. (017670.SE) decided to submit a final bid for a controlling stake in the world's second-largest computer chip maker, Hynix Semiconductor Inc. (000660.SE), a person familiar with the matter said Thursday.

Gan Systems scores VC Funding
November 09, 2011
Ottowa Business Journal
An Ottawa tech firm building the next generation of highly energy-efficient semiconductors has landed an undisclosed investment from a pair of venture capital companies.

Quantenna gets backing from Telefonica
November 07, 2011
EE Times
Fabless communications chip company Quantenna Communications Inc. has said telecommunications operator Telefonica is making an equity investment in the company as part of a strategic partnership. The size of the investment was not disclosed.

Micralyne Partners with Nanoshift
November 07, 2011
prLeap
Micralyne, Inc., a leading pure-play MEMS foundry serving high-performance biomedical, telecommunications and industrial markets, continues to expand the traditional role of foundry beyond manufacturing house

Invensas Acquires patents of TSV expert ALLVIA
November 07, 2011
EE Herald
Invensas Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tessera Technologies, Inc. has acquired the patent assets of ALLVIA, Inc. Both companies are also in for a two-year collaborative partnership in the 3D semiconductor chip packaging technology.

Japanese LCD JV to buy Panasonic fab
November 04, 2011
EE Times
The Innovation Network Corp. of Japan (INCJ), a public-private firm that will control the combined small- and mid-size LCD operations of Hitachi Ltd, Sony Corp. and Toshiba Corp., is also planning to buy a Panasonic Corp. factory for $255.5 million (20 billion yen). This is according to reports by The Nikkei, a Japanese business daily.

Vector Fabrics finds funds for expansion
November 03, 2011
EE Times
Parallel programming tools startup Vector Fabrics BV has announced it has closed a Series B round of venture capital financing which should see it through to the end of 2013 and fund sales and marketing expansion.

UMC approved to hold stake in Hejian
November 02, 2011
Digitimes
Contract chipmaker United Microelectronics (UMC) has announced that the company has received approval from Taiwan's Investment Commission under the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) to acquire a 35.7% stake in China-based Hejian Technology

ARM Acquires Prolific
November 01, 2011
RTT News
Chipmaker ARM Holdings Plc (ARMH: News ,ARM.L: News ) Tuesday said it acquired privately-owned Prolific, Inc., a developer of IC design optimization software tools, to expand its capabilities to speed up ecosystem adoption of advanced process nodes at 20nm and below.

Sterling Partners Buys MOSAID Technologies
October 31, 2011
PE Hub
Sterling Partners is paying $46 per share, or $590 million, to buy MOSAID Technologies Inc., the company announced Friday.

LSI to Aquire SandFroce
October 27, 2011
EE Times
Chip maker LSI Corp., said it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire SandForce Inc., a supplier of flash processors for solid state drives, in a deal worth about $370 million

Dassault Systemes Acquires Elect. Engineering Co. Elsys
October 27, 2011
Business Newswire
Dassault Systèmes (Paris:DSY) (Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA), a world leader in 3D and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, today announced the acquisition of Elsys, an innovative provider of interactive electrical engineering and disruptive multi-discipline generative schematics solutions. Elsys generative technology enables the automatic creation of millions of 2D schematics from functional-logical master data, thereby eliminating the tedious, costly, and error-prone process of interactive manual creation of schematics.

Spreadtrum and Zoom Technologies Partner
October 26, 2011
WSJ
Mobile phone manufacturer Zoom Technologies Inc. (ZOOM) and semiconductor provider Spreadtrum Communications Inc. (SPRD) said Wednesday they plan to partner to pursue business opportunities overseas.

Adesto Technologies Closes 3rd Round Funding Led by Altis Semiconductor
October 25, 2011
Business Wire
SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Adesto Technologies, the leading developer of the low power, low cost CMOS based Conductive Bridging RAM (CBRAM) Technology, has announced the closing of its third round of financing led by Altis Semiconductor. Adesto’s current investors also contributed pro-rata in the new round. The investment from Adesto’s manufacturing partner will also include a licensing agreement that enables Altis to offer embedded CBRAM memory IP for its customers.

Wolfson to Acquire Dynamic Hearing
October 25, 2011
EE Times
Wolfson Enhances its Noise Cancellation Leadership Position with the Acquisition of an Enhanced Speech Intelligibility and Voice Communications Software Company

AMETEK Acquires EM Test
October 25, 2011
PR Newswire
AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE: AME) today announced that it has acquired the parent company of EM Test (Switzerland) GmbH, a privately held manufacturer of electronic test and measurement equipment headquartered in Reinach, Switzerland for CHF 83 million ($93 million). EM Test is a global leader in equipment used to perform electrical immunity and electromagnetic compatibility testing. EM Test has expected annual sales of approximately CHF 37 million ($41 million).

Bridgelux Adds $15M
October 24, 2011
Pe Hub
Bridgelux, a developer and manufacturer of LED lighting products, has added $15 million in financing to help it boost accelerate research and development. The company is backed by VantagePoint Capital Partners, DCM, El Dorado Ventures, Novus Energy Partners, IFA, Chrysalix, Harris & Harris Group, Craton Equity Partners, Jebsen Asset Management and Passport Capital.

GEO Semiconductor Secures $1.6 Million in New Financing; Initiates Series B Funding
October 19, 2011
Business Wire
GEO Semiconductor Inc. ("GEO"), the industry leader in programmable, high performance, geometric processor (eWarp) IC solutions for a wide range of video and image processing applications, today announced that it has secured $1.6 million in new financing comprised of approximately $1.3 million in equity investment from existing investors and approximately $300,000 under its convertible debt agreement. As an extension to this funding, GEO has initiated efforts to raise $10 million of Series B funding.

Murata to buy MEMS firm for $260 million
October 18, 2011
EE Times
Japanese passives to power supplies giant Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd. has announced it has agreed to buy VTI Technologies Oy (Vantaa, Finland) for about 20 billion yen (about 190 million euro or $260 million) in cash.

Sidense raises $5.6 million in Series C
October 17, 2011
PE Hub
Ottawa-based Sidense Corp., a developer of programmable memory IP cores, has raised $5.6 million in additional capital for its Series C round. Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund contributed to the round, as did Tech Capital Partners, VentureLink and Vertex Venture Capital.

Cirtek plans to hold IPO
October 12, 2011
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Semiconductor exporter Cirtek Electronics Corp. may hold its initial public offering (IPO) by the middle of November this year.

Synopsys buys Extreme DA, gains timing analysis
October 12, 2011
EE Times
Synopsys Inc. acquires Extreme DA Corp. to expand its static timing analysis solutions and multi-core software development capabilities by adding technology and engineering talent to accelerate advancements in its timing analysis offerings.

ChipMOS completes Modern Mind transaction
October 09, 2011
Display Plus
ChipMOS TECHNOLOGIES (www.chipmos.com), a specialist provider of semiconductor testing and assembly services to customers, announced that ThaiLin Semiconductor (www.thailin.com.tw), a 42.9%-owned subsidiary of ChipMOS's 84.2% owned subsidiary, has completed the purchase of demand notes issued by Modern Mind Technology (www.modernmind.com.tw) from ChipMOS.

Spreadtrum buys majority of MobilePeak
October 03, 2011
EE Times
China-based fabless chip supplier Spreadtrum Communications Inc. said Monday (Oct. 3) it completed a majority acquisition of WCDMA solutions provider MobilePeak Holdings Ltd. for about $5 million

Pixelligent raises over $5M
September 27, 2011

Pixelligent LLC, nanocrystal additive maker, closed $5.1 million in funding. The round was 6 times over-subscribed, requiring the company board to significantly upsize the round.