=Cypress Semi (CY) to be acquired by Infineon Technologies (IFNNY) for $23.85/share

• Update 3/10/20:  Infineon's acquisition of Cypress Semiconductor was approved by U.S. regulators.
• Germany's Infineon Technologies agreed to buy Cypress Semiconductor (CY) for $8.7 billion cash, or $10 billion including assumed debt. The $23.85 a share offer for Cypress is a 34% premium to Cypress stock at Friday's close and about 50% from before reports that Cypress was putting itself up for sale.

German chipmaker Infineon is buying U.S.-based Cypress Semiconductor Corp. for more than $10 billion.

Infineon will pay $23.85 for each outstanding share of Cypress in the deal, which is expected to close late this year or early in 2020. The companies said the sale price represents a 46% premium to Cypress's share price over the past six weeks.

Infineon said Monday the acquisition will make it the eighth biggest chipmaker in the world and the leading supplier of chips to the automotive sector.

The companies expect cost synergies of 180 million euros ($201 million) per year by 2022.

Shares in the San Jose, California-based Cypress jumped more than 20% in premarket trading. The company, which specializes in wireless and USB technology, had $539 million in revenue in the first quarter.

The offer price represents a 46 percent premium to Cypress's unaffected 30-day volume-weighted average price during the period from 15 April to 28 May 2019, the last trading day prior to media reports regarding a potential sale of Cypress. Cypress expects to continue its quarterly cash dividend payments until the transaction closes. This includes Cypress's previously announced quarterly cash dividend of US$0.11 per share, payable on July 18, 2019 to holders of record of Cypress's common stock at the close of business on June 27, 2019.

-=Cypress Semiconductor (CY) exploring options

(Reuters) - Cypress Semiconductor Corp is exploring options, including a potential sale, after receiving takeover interest, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The company is working with advisers, the report said, adding no final decision has been made and Cypress could opt to remain independent.

Shares of the chipmaker rose nearly 12% on the news.

Cypress Semiconductor declined to comment.

-=Cypress Semiconductor (CY) reported earnings on Thur 26 Oct 2017 (a/h)

Cypress tops 3Q profit forecasts

• Gross profit margin was 43% in the quarter, up from 40.9% in the prior quarter.
• Cypress’s sales in its “Microcontroller and Connectivity Division,” or “MCD,” rose 4% from the prior quarter, while sales for the memory products group, including “NOR” flash memory chips, were down 1%.

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) _ Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (CY) on Thursday reported third-quarter profit of $11 million.

The San Jose, California-based company said it had profit of 3 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, came to 27 cents per share.

The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 23 cents per share.

The chipmaker posted revenue of $604.6 million in the period, which did not meet Street forecasts. Five analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $604.7 million.

For the current quarter ending in December, Cypress expects its per-share earnings to range from 23 cents to 27 cents.

The company said it expects revenue in the range of $575 million to $610 million for the fiscal fourth quarter.

**The IoT component of the business is benefiting from continued strong sales of Nintendo’s (7974JP) “Switch” video game console, but also newer product introductions, such as a raft of Bluetooth wireless ear buds.

**In the automotive market, where Cypress makes about one third of its sales, the company’s parts are flourishing both on their own and as they ride the roll-out of “autonomous” drive functions being pushed by Intel (INTC) and Nvidia (NVDA) and their customers.

For example, Cypress already has 65% share of all the NOR flash chips that go into vehicles. The company also dominates in microcontroller chips for powering touch-based displays in dashboards.