Applied Materials Inc, the largest producer of chipmaking equipment, has agreed to pay $4.9 billion in cash to acquire Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates Inc.
It has been confirmed the company will pay $63 per share, Bloomberg.com has reported.
"You're getting a very high-quality company," commented Patrick Ho, an analyst for Stifel Nicolaus & Co in Dallas.
He recommended buying Applied Materials shares, adding: "They basically lost all their market share to Varian."
Last week, NetLogic Microsystems, a worldwide leader in high performance intelligent semiconductor solutions, revealed financial results for its first quarter.
The firm confirmed that first quarter revenue reached $98.7 million, a 1.8 per cent sequential decrease from $100.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2010.
It is also a 14.4 per cent increase from $86.3 million for the first quarter of 2010.
"Building upon our tremendous engineering achievements in 2010, we have continued to execute on an ambitious roadmap that highlights our commitment to technology leadership," Ron Jankov, president and CEO of the firm, commented.
Posted by Simon Jones