Silicon Labs and Sigma Designs announced this week a definitive agreement under which Silicon Labs will acquire Sigma Designs for $7.05 per share in a cash transaction valued at approximately $282 million, subject to certain closing conditions. This price represents a 26 percent premium over Sigma Designs’ closing price of $5.60 per share on Dec. 6, 2017.
The boards of directors of both companies have approved the transaction. Silicon Labs expects the transaction to close in the first calendar quarter of next year. Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC is serving as financial advisor to Silicon Labs, and Deutsche Bank is serving as financial advisor to Sigma Designs.
Sigma Designs provides solutions for the connected home including Z-Wave, an Internet of Things (IoT) technology for smart home solutions. Z-Wave supplies some of the world’s largest ecosystems of smart home IoT products with more than 2,100 certified, interoperable devices available from more than 600 manufacturers.
The addition of Z-Wave will expand Silicon Labs’ wireless connectivity portfolio and worldwide customer base for the connected home.
The addition of Z-Wave extends connectivity options for developers and ecosystem providers and delivers alternatives to customers and markets for secure, interoperable IoT devices. Silicon Labs intends to work in collaboration with the Z-Wave Alliance to drive adoption and development of Z-Wave technology.
“The connected home represents one of the largest market opportunities in the IoT. Today, there is no single dominant wireless technology for home automation, and protocols include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, Thread and proprietary,” said Tyson Tuttle, CEO of Silicon Labs. “By adding Z-Wave technology to Silicon Labs’ connectivity portfolio, we will be better positioned to serve this fast-growing market. Ecosystem providers and developers will have a one-stop shop for wireless connectivity solutions for the home.”
“This is an exciting day for Sigma Designs, and we are pleased to be joining forces with Silicon Labs,” said Thinh Q. Tran, President and CEO of Sigma Designs, Inc. “Silicon Labs and Z-Wave share a vision of secure, interoperable smart homes. This transaction provides immediate value to our shareholders, and offers new growth opportunities for our employees and customers to develop a wider range of leading-edge solutions.”
In addition to Z-Wave technology, Sigma Designs also provides solutions for media connectivity and smart TV. Sigma Designs plans to divest or wind down its smart TV business. In addition, Sigma Designs is in active discussions with prospective buyers to divest its media connectivity business. Subsequent to divestiture and restructuring actions, Silicon Labs expects the acquisition of Sigma Designs to be accretive on a non-GAAP basis.
In the event that certain closing conditions are not met, the parties have agreed that Sigma Designs would instead sell its Z-Wave business to Silicon Labs for $240 million, contingent upon approval by Sigma Designs’ stockholders.
