(News) China reports 31 semiconductor M&A deals in 2024, led by analog chips and materials

China’s semiconductor industry is experiencing a “merger and acquisition (M&A) boom” in the second half of this year. According to a report by Yicai Global, 31 semiconductor M&A deals were made public for the first time in 2024, with more than half of them being disclosed after September 20th. Of these, 14 deals, nearly half, were concentrated in semiconductor materials and analog chips.

Yicai Global reported that seven of the acquiring companies in these newly disclosed deals are from the analog chip sector. Key companies include Convert, Halo Microelectronics, BPS, and Novosense.

The report highlighted that these analog chip acquisition companies specialize in areas such as power management, signal chain, and power ICs. For example, on October 22, BPS announced that it had acquired a controlling stake in Convenient Power Company through a private placement. BPS and Convenient Power both focus on power management chips. According to the planned acquisition, the two companies will have high synergies in their business operations, allowing BPS to strengthen its product line for mobile and automotive applications while achieving complementary advantages in customer base and supply chain integration. .

Additionally, seven M&A transactions were initiated by semiconductor materials companies in 2024. Three of the cases involved upstream silicon wafer manufacturers (Li-on, TCL Zhonghuan, and Grinn Semiconductor Materials). The other two deals were led by semiconductor manufacturing equipment raw material providers Grandit and AESM.

Two M&A transactions involving JCET, a leading Chinese semiconductor packaging and testing company, have attracted attention. In March, JCET announced that it would acquire an 80% stake in SanDisk Semiconductor (Shanghai) for 4.5 billion yuan. Shortly after, JCET itself underwent a change in management, with China Resource Group (CRC) acquiring management rights for 11.7 billion yuan.

In contrast, there was relatively little M&A activity in the digital lines sector, with only two deals reported. GigaDevice and Intellifusion were the acquiring parties in these transactions. In particular, GigaDevice together with co-investors acquired a 70% stake in Xysemi for RMB 580 million.

(Photo courtesy of NovoSense)