AMS to acquire TAOS

The transaction is expected to close within the next eight weeks subject to certain regulatory approvals and the occurrence of certain conditions defined in the agreements with the sellers of the TAOS shares. The consideration for the shares to be acquired will amount to approximately USD 320 million, or approximately EUR 220 million, and is payable as follows: approximately 50% of the consideration in new austriamicrosystems shares against contribution in kind of TAOS shares including customary lock up clauses, i.e. a selling prohibition for the first six months and selling restrictions for up to 24 months after closing of the transaction, and approximately 50% of the consideration in cash. Depending on the achievement of certain revenue criteria by TAOS in 2011, an increase of the purchase consideration for the sellers of the TAOS shares of up to a maximum of USD 10 million, or approximately EUR 7 million, may occur. austriamicrosystems expects the transaction to be accretive to austriamicrosystems’ EPS (earnings per share) from the third quarter 2011 onwards. "Acquiring TAOS results in a complementary expansion of our existing innovative sensor portfolio for mobile devices and considerable growth of our Consumer & Communications business. TAOS holds a strong market position as a leading, high-volume provider to many major makers of mobile consumer electronics worldwide. The strategic combination of austriamicrosystems and TAOS creates a significant provider of advanced sensor technologies for the attractive smartphone and tablet PC markets", emphasizes John Heugle, CEO of austriamicrosystems. "Our display management and proximity detection solutions bring important advantages to increasingly sophisticated devices like the latest generation of mobile devices. Intelligent, integrated sensor devices are quickly becoming core elements of mainstream consumer and communications devices and offer new opportunities in emerging applications. We are excited to join forces with austriamicrosystems leveraging the combined expertise of austriamicrosystems and TAOS as a leader in advanced mobile device sensor technologies", adds Kirk Laney, CEO of TAOS.