Fairchild Semi buys Raytheon unit

Electronic News, Jan 12, 1998

South Portland, Maine -- Fairchild Semiconductor on the last day of 1997 completed its acquisition of Raytheon Electronics Semiconductor (EN, Dec. 1, 1997), a division of the Raytheon Co., for approximately $120 million in cash. Fairchild had expected to close the acquisition quickly.

"With the completion of this acquisition, Fairchild now has the nucleus upon which to build a strong analog and mixed signal technologies business to complement our leadership position in the logic, non-volatile memory and discrete power and signal technologies businesses," commented Kirk Pond, president/CEO of Fairchild. "This acquisition gives Fairchild entry into the $25 billion annual worldwide analog market. I am pleased that we can finalize this first strategic acquisition only nine months after becoming an independent company."

The new Analog and Mixed Signal Products group designs, manufactures and markets integrated circuits for the personal computer, communications, broadcast video and industrial markets, it was said. "The group enjoys a strong, growing position in selected segments of the rapidly expanding PC, digital video, and set-top box markets. It is one of the top three suppliers of critical DC-to-DC converters for PCs and is the leading provider of video processing ICs for the growing broadcast video market. It is also the largest supplier of ground fault interrupters (GFI) in the North American market," a statement said. The group employs approximately 420 in Mountain View and San Diego, Calif.

"This acquisition clearly affirms Fairchild's strategy to grow not only through new product development but also through consolidation and acquisition," Mr. Pond said. "Our 50,000 customers worldwide have embraced the concept of a semiconductor company focused solely on high performance standard semiconductor products. This purchase clearly establishes Fairchild as a consolidator of multi-market semiconductor businesses.

"Because the Raytheon Electronics Semiconductor division is a profitable operation, we will be free to focus our investment on increased research and development efforts. Many of our customers have requested that we add analog products to our portfolio. We will meet their request not only with this acquisition but with aggressive new product development as well," he said.

Fairchild Semiconductor, headquartered here, now has a global work force numbering 7,000.