U.S. Qualcomm Inc agreed to purchase CSR Plc for $2.5 billion, offering what it hopes is a knock-out blow to win the British Bluetooth specialist which is growing in areas like automotive and wearable devices.Qualcomm, the world's number one mobile chipmaker, has agreed to pay 900 pence a share in cash for CSR, a 56.5 percent premium on the share price before the start of the offer period in August, CSR said on Wednesday.At that time, the British company rebuffed an approach from U.S. chipmaker Microchip Technology, saying its undisclosed offer was not enough. The two had remained in talks to reach a deal, with a deadline imposed by UK regulators for Wednesday.There is a chance alternative bidders may emerge, Jeffries analyst Robert Lamb told investors in a research note, although he cautioned that the high multiple relative to recent chip mergers which Qualcomm is paying may prove difficult to trump.
Microchip Technology Incorporated develops and manufactures specialized semiconductor products used by its customers for a variety of embedded control applications. Shares of MCHP fell by 1.24% or $-0.48/share to $38.21. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $37.89 and as high as $50.04. On average, 1818160 shares of MCHP exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 6772257.
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