Freescale Semiconductor has agreed to be acquired by a group of investment firms for US$17.6 billion.A consortium of four private equity firms plans to buy the big Austin, Texas, chipmaker for $40 per share in cash. The deal is subject to regulatory approvals and a vote by Freescale shareholders. Freescale’s board of directors has unanimously approved the sale, the company announced Friday. The offer price represents an approximately 36 percent premium over the company’s average closing share price in the 30-day period that ended Sept. 8.Freescale, a spin-off of Mo, went public on its own in 2004 and had sales of $5.8 billion in 2005. It designs and manufactures embedded networking, wireless, automotive, industrial and consumer product chips. Under the deal, Freescale is allowed to solicit other proposals for the next 50 calendar days and can respond to unsolicited offers, subject to a deal breakup fee. The consortium is led by The Blackstone Group in New York, and includes The Carlyle Group, Permira Funds and Texas Pacific Group.The buyers probably want to split Freescale up into three companies in a series of initial public offerings, said Forward Concepts analyst Will Strauss. The company has been generally successful in the automotive, networking and wireless chip businesses and has seen its stock rise since the spinoff, he said. Those three main businesses could be easily spun off separately, he said. It’s common for private investors to buy a company so they can make changes that would be harder to carry out if it remained public, said Nathan Brookwood, an analyst at Insight 64. Even if the board wanted to remain in control of Freescale, they had little choice with private investors willing to pay a significant premium, Strauss said.“The stockholders would tar and feather the board if they didn’t accept the offer,” he said.Freescale is the biggest supplier of automotive chips in North America, has a strong business in processors for network gear and is still the exclusive supplier to Motorola of some key cell-phone chips, while expanding its customer base, Strauss said. Freescale customers probably won’t feel any impact from the buyout, at least in the next six months, he said.-Stephen Lawson, IDG News Service (San Francisco Bureau)Check out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage. Related content brandpost How an Indian real-estate juggernaut keeps growing by harnessing the power of zero A South Indian real-estate titan is known for the infinite variety and impressive scale of its projects, but one of its most towering achievements amounts to nothing literally. By Michael Kure, SAP Contributor May 31, 2023 5 mins Digital Transformation brandpost Hybrid working: the new workplace normal IT leaders discuss how a more broadly dispersed workforce impacts device deployment, connectivity, and the employee experience, even as more workers return to the office. By Michael Krieger May 31, 2023 5 mins Remote Work opinion Can you spot the hidden theme of CSO’s Future of Cybersecurity summit? By Beth Kormanik May 31, 2023 2 mins Events Cybercrime Artificial Intelligence case study How IT leaders use EV tech to fuel the transport revolution in Kenya Many African nations are starting to invest in electric vehicle (EV) transportation as a means to broaden access and help keep pace with global environmental initiatives. In Kenya, strides are being made despite industry and tech leaders grappling to By Vincent Matinde May 31, 2023 5 mins CIO CTO Emerging Technology Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe