Breakingviews - Chipmaker crafts tricky recipe for chaos-era M&A

Karen Kwok - Reuters - 08/04
It’s encouraging for dealmakers that a multibillion-dollar transaction can get announced amid a global market meltdown and extreme economic uncertainty. What’s less reassuring is that the enabling factors in this case seem idiosyncratic.
LONDON, April 8 (Reuters Breakingviews) - It’s encouraging for dealmakers that a multibillion-dollar transaction can get announced amid a global market meltdown and extreme economic uncertainty. What’s less reassuring is that the enabling factors in this case seem idiosyncratic.
Infineon Technologies (IFXGn.DE), opens new tab, which designs and manufacturers semiconductors for customers as varied as carmakers and electricity generators, said, opens new tab late on Monday that it would buy the automotive ethernet division of Marvell Technology (MRVL.O), opens new tab for $2.5 billion in cash. The business in question connects the chips found in cars and could help the $36 billion German acquirer prepare for a future of more widespread autonomous driving.
It’s an unusual time to announce a deal. Global stock markets are still reeling from U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff announcements last week, which could upend supply chains and prompt an escalating trade war. Corporate borrowing costs, measured by the interest-rate gap compared with risk-free government bond yields, are still low by long-term historic standards but have leapt in recent days, in theory making ...
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