US: FTC lets Semiconductor merger continue after antitrust charges settled

The Federal Trade Commission on Thursday allowed the merger of two semiconductor firms to move forward after one of the companies settled FTC charges that acquisition of its rival manufacturer would be anticompetitive.

In a complaint filed yesterday, the FTC said the merger of ON Semiconductor Corp. and Fairchild Semiconductor International Inc. would give the company too much control over the global market share of insulated-gate bipolar transistors used in automotive ignition systems. The complaint said ON and Fairchild together manufacture more than 60 percent of those semiconductors, which function as solid-state electronic switches in automobile ignition systems.

Phoenix-based ON announced an agreement in November to acquire Fairchild, headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., for $2.4 billion in cash.

In the proposed consent order published today, ON will sell its ignition IGBT business to Littelfuse Inc. within 10 days of the merger. ON must also turn over all ignition IGBT design files and intellectual property to Littelfuse, transfer all customer relationships and supply ignition IGBTs to Littelfuse until the company’s manufacturing operation gets up to speed.

Full Content: Reuters

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