Conexant Systems, Inc. (CNXT) recently announced that director Jerre L. Stead will retire from the company’s Board either before the merger with Gold Holdings, Inc. is completed or by June 30, 2011, whichever is earlier.
Based in California, Conexant provides innovative semiconductor solutions for imaging, audio, embedded modem and video surveillance applications.
Last month, Conexant signed a merger agreement with Gold Holdings, Inc., an affiliate of private equity firm Golden Gate Capital. Under the terms of the agreement, Gold Holdings, Inc. agreed to purchase all of the outstanding shares of Conexant for $2.40 per share in cash. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2011.
Conexant decided to accept the proposal from Golden Gate, which appears to be better than the one from Standard Microsystems and terminated its previously announced merger agreement with the latter by paying approximately $7.7 million as termination fee under the terms of the agreement.
In January 2011, Conexant entered into a merger agreement with chipmaker Standard Microsystems Corporation (SMSC) and a wholly owned subsidiary of SMSC. Under the agreement, Standard Microsystems would have purchased all of the outstanding shares of Conexant in a stock and cash transaction valued at approximately $284 million or $2.25 per share.
Though Standard Microsystems believed that the acquisition of Conexant would have been complementary to its existing business, it decided not to out-bid the offer of Golden Gate Capital. Standard Microsystems believes that the price it offered for Conexant was fully valued and a higher premium for Conexant was not justifiable.
CONEXANT SYS (CNXT): Free Stock Analysis Report
STANDARD MICROS (SMSC): Free Stock Analysis Report
Zacks Investment Research
