Case Study: Microsemi Corporation
Chipmaker Caps Decade of Growth with Successful Acquisition
O’Melveny advised long-time client Microsemi on its US$10.3 billion acquisition by Microchip Technology and in the negotiated resolution of a federal securities class action challenging the merger. The deal—the largest principal-side M&A transaction ever completed by O’Melveny—was the culmination of a more than 10-year relationship, with O’Melveny handling all of the company’s corporate work and approximately 30 M&A and investment transactions dating back to 2007. These included Microsemi’s US$2.5 billion acquisition of PMC-Sierra, its US$389 million acquisition of Vitesse Semiconductor, its US$130 million acquisition of the high-performance timing business of Vectron International, the US$300 million divestiture of its board-level systems and packaging business, and the US$23 million divestiture of its Broadband Wireless business.
The Wall Street Journal noted that the merger “creates a growing power in chips for everything from washing machines and cars to missiles.”