Renesas abandons proposed Sequans acquisition
Japanese semiconductor company Renesas has terminated its MOU to purchase Sequans Communications.
In August 2023 it was reported that Renesas had made a tender offer to purchase all of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares of Sequans for $0.7575 each. But under the terms of the MOU, either company could terminate the deal subject for tax or regulatory reasons. On February 15, Renesas received an Adverse Japanese Tax Ruling, and pressed the termination button.
Renesas played down the impact of the cancellation and said it will continue to partner with its proposed acquisition target "to see significant opportunities from cellular IoT technology". The firms have been collaborating since 2020 to deliver full-scale solutions that combine Renesas’ embedded processors and analog front-end products with Sequans’ wireless chipsets for massive IoT and broadband IoT applications.
Renesas wants to expand its offering of connectivity products through strategic acquisitions, so it has pursued a stream of buy-outs in recent months. They include the purchases of Dialog, Celeno and Panthronics. Just two weeks ago, Renesas entered into an agreement to acquire Australian electronics design systems specialist Altium Limited.
