On March 2, 2015 NXP Semiconductors and Freescale Semiconductor announced one of the largest mergers in the semiconductor industry. Gregg Lowe, the President and CEO of Freescale Semiconductor sent out a notice today to let customers know how the merger would impact them.
At the moment the companies are operating as two separate entities. However once the merger is complete, the companies will be able to combine resources and expertise (expected second half of 2015) creating a more innovative and efficient company. They plan to keep the NXP Semiconductors name and operate as one company under the NXP brand.
The two companies' portfolios overlap primarily in only one area, RF power products. Here, NXP has decided to sell their RF power portfolio and keep the industry-leading Freescale RF portfolio. All other product families complement each other very well. For instance, the Freescale Kinetis MCU combination with NXP's leadership in connectivity and security is an easy and obvious fit. The same is true for NXP's FM tuners and Freescale's i.MX and Infotainment systems. Another is NXP's leadership in secure ID and Freescale's secure Digital Networking processors. We see these natural junctions in each product group and we look forward to exploring more with you.
The Form F-4 has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Once the proxy statement/prospectus is declared effective by the SEC, they will call a shareholder vote to approve the merger between NXP and Freescale. This is expected to close in the second half of 2015.
