Dialog Semiconductor, a provider of power management, charging, AC/DC power conversion, and Wi-Fi & Bluetooth low energy technology, has announced the acquisition of Creative Chips GmbH, a supplier of ICs for the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) market. The acquisition will be funded from Dialog’s balance sheet for a cash payment of approximately $80 million, with an additional contingent consideration of up to $23 million, based on future revenue targets in 2020 and 2021. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2019.
Headquartered in Bingen, Germany, with an additional design center in Dresden, Creative Chips is a fabless semiconductor company with a growing IC business supplying a broad portfolio of industrial Ethernet and other mixed-signal products to top-tier, blue-chip manufacturers of industrial and building automation systems. The technology is optimized to efficiently connect large numbers of IIoT sensors to industrial networks. Building on its long-established custom IC business, Creative Chips is also developing a range of highly complementary standard IO-Link IC products, driving broader connectivity in the Industry 4.0 revolution.
The new acquisition is strategic for Dialog to establish itself as a proven supplier, well-positioned to capture the significant growth potential of the Industrial IoT market. It also provides Dialog with a rich portfolio of core IC products and a broad library of relevant analog, digital and RF technologies. The acquisition includes the addition of an experienced engineering team with a wealth of unique skills that, when combined with Dialog’s worldwide engineering, marketing, and sales teams, will accelerate IC sales on a global basis.
Both companies operate well-established fabless semiconductor business models with a focus on mixed-signal products and technology. With Dialog’s global scale, operations, product development, and extensive IC technology resources, the combined companies are strongly positioned to quickly address opportunities in the IIoT market.
The acquisition of Creative Chips is instrumental for Dialog, giving it a strong foothold in the Industrial IoT market, while still highly complementary to Dialog’s current mixed-signal business. The addition of Creative Chips and its team of highly experienced and talented engineers will help to further diversify Dialog’s product revenues, customer base, and end markets by extending its reach in the industrial sector by strengthening the automotive offering.
With Creative Chips, Dialog gains an impressive set of top-tier industrial customers with trusted relationships that have been built over the course of nearly 20 years. This will extend Dialog’s global sales reach of its existing wireless low power connectivity, configurable mixed-signal, and power management ICs while establishing a key strategic building block for Dialog to realize its larger ambitions in the Industry 4.0 market.
Creative Chips is expected to generate revenues of approximately $20 million in the calendar year 2019 with revenue growth of over 25% per annum anticipated over the next few years.
