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Freescale Semiconductor Buyout?
Alchemist253 writes "The New York Times is running an article about a possible leveraged buyout of speciality chipmaker Freescale Semiconductor. Freescale currently makes a variety of embedded processors, microcontrollers, and memory, but is probably best known to the Slashdot crowd as the Motorola spinoff that supplied Apple its PowerPC chips before the shift over to an Intel architecture. From the article, "A consortium of investment firms was near a deal late last night to acquire Freescale Semiconductor... for more than $16 billion, according to people briefed on the negotiations. The deal, if completed, would be the largest leveraged buyout ever in the technology sector, surpassing the $11.3 billion sale of SunGard Data Systems last year.""
What is a leveraged buyout?
Creates a whole meaning to the 'buy' link on their webiste... ;)
My work here is dung.
Apple did NOT get the G5 from Freescale. That came from IBM. Apple got the G4's from Freescale so the post is PARTIALLY correct. The PowerPC platform still has a strong presence in the server room and is FAR from dying. It just might not be used for desktop stuff anymore.
Gorkman
Freescale did not seem to have been much affected by Apple's Intel switch, see Yahoo (the Intel announcement was in July 2005). Was Apple such a small customer for their chips?
There will definitely need to be a few more players on the field to take advantage of the coming flood of end-users who just don't want to by spyware.
if I claimed I was emperor just because some watery tart lobbed a scimitar at me they'd put me away!
I submit David Hasselhoff is the AntiChrist
And I have the proof
How can one explain the phenomenal global success of one of this country's least talented individuals? There are only three ways.
* Mr. Hasselhoff actually is talented, but this goes unnoticed in his own country.
* Mr. Hasselhoff has sold his soul to Satan in return for global success.
* David Hasselhoff is the AntiChrist.
I vote for the latter -- and perhaps, after seeing the facts involved, the rest of the world will agree.
The Facts First, the obvious. Add a little beard and a couple of horns -- David Hasselhoff looks like the Devil, doesn't he? And the letters in his name can be rearranged to spell fad of devil's hash.
What does this mean? Well, Baywatch is David's fad. David is the devil. The Hash is what makes Knight Rider popular in Amsterdam.
(I was actually hoping to make the letters in his name spell out he is of the devil, which would be possible if his middle name was "Ethesis," which it might be. I'm sure his publicist would hide such a middle name if it were true.)
Second -- and most importantly -- David Hasselhoff and his television series were foretold in the Bible. Biblical scholars worldwide may quibble over interpretations, but they all agree on this. For a few telling examples let's skip to the end of the Bible. If any book of the Bible will tell us who the AntiChrist is, it's the Revelation of Saint John, which basically describes the AntiChrist and the Armageddon He causes. I'll just give you the verse, and the current theological interpretation of that verse.
Who is the Beast?
Rev 13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns The Beast, of course, is David Hasselhoff. The Heads are His separate television incarnations. Young and the Restless, Revenge of the Cheerleaders, Knight Rider, Terror at London Bridge, Ring of the Musketeers, Baywatch and Baywatch Nights. The ten horns represent His musical releases: Crazy For You, David, David Hasselhoff, Do You Love Me?, Du, Everybody Sunshine, I Believe, Looking For Freedom, Night Lover and Night Rockers. Not only does Mitch The Lifeguard literally "rise out of the sea" on Baywatch, but David's musical career has mostly occurred in Europe, a metaphoric rise to fame from across the sea. Rev 13:3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. Of course, this is a reference to his third head: Knight of the Phoenix, the first episode of Knight Rider. In this episode, "Michael Long, a policeman, is shot and left for dead. The shot is deflected by a plate in his head, but ruins his face. He is saved and his face reconstructed. He is reluctant, but agrees to use K.I.T.T. to help the Foundation for Law and Government fight criminals who are 'beyond the reach of the law'. " Knight Rider has been shown in 82 countries. Rev 13:5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. The following blasphemies are actual quotes from David Hasselhoff -- I read these while he was 42 years old.
"I'm good-looking, and I make a lot of money."
"There are many dying children out there whose last wish is to meet me."
"I'm six foot four, an all-American guy, and handsome and talented as well!"
"Before long, I'll have my own channel -- I'll be like Barney."
"(Baywatch) is responsible for a lot of world peace." which the Hoff said at the Bollywood Oscars. Don't believe me? Read the original article!
And here's a blasphemy that came from David's recent (Feb 2004) visit to the Berlin Wall museum. I couldn't have made something this great up by myself. He was upset that the museum didn't spend more time devoted to his personal role in the fall of Communism. You can read more about it here, if you don't believ
heads on! apply directly to the forehead!
employees are expected to produce earnings to pay off the purchase. The buyout does nothing for the real economy. Looks like I got the Mondays.
I wonder what this will mean for the employees of Freescale. I work as a computer consultant for Freescale's Oak Hill facility in Austin... Good thing I have a contract ;-)
Eagles may soar, but weasels never get sucked into jet engines...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leveraged_buyout
The Wiki article on leveraged buyouts is pretty neutral. You have to read between the lines.
From the Wiki article: "Proponents of LBOs claimed that they caused companies to make more efficient use of their resources." That means that you don't want to be the victim of a leveraged buyout and have to defend yourself against it. If you haven't made efficient use of your resources (ie. your assets are worth more than your stock) you could become the victim of corporate raiders. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_raid They sell off your assets and your company ceases to exist.
In the nastiest kind of leveraged buyout, the buyers essentially use the company's own money to buy it.
Let's see if Freescale tries to defend itself with a poison pill. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poison_pill
Geez, this investment stuff is almost as much fun as reading Groklaw.
I like the freescale people we have and I like the direction its moving. Be a real shame to have to cut back to appease the new masters.
OSGGFG - Open Source Gamers Guide to Free Games
The deal, if completed, would be the largest leveraged buyout ever in the technology sector, surpassing the $11.3 billion sale of SunGard Data Systems last year.
But not bigger than the 25 billion dollar purchase of Compaq.
I wonder how this will affect their development of MRAM http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/07/ 10/139223
hopefully, it will not hinder the development in any way
See also CNN Money article.
Is this welcome by Freescale as an attempt to go private? Or, is this an attempt to forcibly take over the company by a different group of managers or (as a previous post questioned) corporate raiders?
Going private isn't necessarily bad. That can have some advantages for the company. Especially if this is voluntary and would essentially leave day-to-day operations and management unchanged (assuming the groups are succesful). Board of directors might change dramatically, and some top positions may change, but that could be it.
On the other hand, if this is a forced leveraged buy out to either take the company private by different leadership or by corporate raiders seeking to divide and profit, major changes could be in store for Freescale if this is succesful.
Anyone know if this is voluntary or not?
. 62,400 repetitions make one truth -- Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
Yes, PowerPC is strong in the server room. Too bad for Freescale that 99% of them are IBM chips.
Presumably Freescale still has a decent share of the embedded market, but their position in general computing can be summed up in 8 characters: MPC8641D. Their amazing high-performance dual-core fast-FSB low-wattage super-G4 has been "just around the corner" since mid-2004.
If that chip and the 3GHz G5 had shipped on schedule, the results for http://www.google.com/search?q=boot-camp would be a lot different.
Freescale Semiconductor in Discussions
AUSTIN, Texas, Sep 11, 2006 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. (NYSE:FSL) (NYSE:FSL.B), a global leader in the design and manufacture of embedded semiconductors for wireless, networking, automotive, consumer and industrial markets, said today that it is in discussions with parties relating to a possible business transaction.
There can be no assurances that any transaction will result from these discussions.
To protect the interests of its stockholders, employees and customers, Freescale said that it will not comment further on these discussions unless and until it is appropriate to do so
About Freescale Semiconductor
Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. (NYSE:FSL) (NYSE:FSL.B) is a global leader in the design and manufacture of embedded semiconductors for the automotive, consumer, industrial, networking and wireless markets. Freescale became a publicly traded company in July 2004. The company is based in Austin, Texas, and has design, research and development, manufacturing or sales operations in more than 30 countries. Freescale, a member of the S&P 500(R), is one of the world's largest semiconductor companies with 2005 sales of $5.8 billion (USD).
www.Freescale.com
Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as expects, anticipates, plans, believes, estimates, will or words of similar meaning and include statements regarding the plans and expectations for the upcoming quarter, the year and the future. Forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and assumptions, which are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and could cause actual outcomes to differ materially from the expectations of the company and its management. These uncertainties, risks and changes include, but are not limited to the uncertainties regarding discussions of this nature and risk factors discussed from time to time by the company in reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We urge you to carefully consider the risks which are described in the company's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005 and in the company's other SEC filings. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.
Freescale(TM) and the Freescale logo are trademarks of Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. The Power Architecture and Power.org wordmarks and the Power and Power.org logos and related marks are trademarks and service marks licensed by Power.org. All other product or service names are the property of their respective owners.
SOURCE: Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.
There are not many integrated companies left - only Samsung and a few Japanese companies come to mind. Even the Japanese have taken to spinning off - Renesas is made up of Hitachi's and Mitsubishi's semiconductor operations. Most semiconductor companies are now only doing semiconductors - I think this is a good thing as it allows the companies to focus on their core business. IBM is the western company that sticks out - same company does everything from business consulting to semiconductors to logistics systems.
Didn't they abandon the PowerPC (G3 and G4) line of CPU's in favor of IBM's G5 chips before switching to Intel (at least in the desktop world)?
-ScottMy other sig is a Glock
that heat wasn't the real issue with the Intel switch, and that Freescale actual has a dual-core processor that's plenty cool enough to run at similar clock speeds to the CoreDuo in a laptop. The G5 to Intel switch was more about Intel ubiquity and preventing supply shortages.
How would spyware install itself if I'm not running Windbloat? It's the OS that matters for spyware as I can run AROS or Linux on the box and still not have to worry.
Microsoft never *released* a 64 bit version of NT on Alpha. Compared to any other Alpha operating system (that is, Tru64 or VMS), NT was crippled.