Vishay offers to buy International Rectifier
Vishay Intertechnology Inc., a Malvern company that makes semiconductors and electronic components, said yesterday that it had offered to buy all outstanding shares of International Rectifier Corp. common stock for $21.22 per share.
Vishay Intertechnology Inc., a Malvern company that makes semiconductors and electronic components, said yesterday that it had offered to buy all outstanding shares of International Rectifier Corp. common stock for $21.22 per share.
The deal would total $1.6 billion.
Vishay said its offer was 13 percent above Thursday's closing price of $18.82. Shares of International Rectifier closed yesterday at $22.49, up 19.5 percent. Vishay shares closed down 8 percent.
International Rectifier makes power semiconductors with 5,400 employees worldwide. It is based in El Segundo, Calif.
International Rectifier said in a statement that the company would evaluate the unsolicited proposal.
Vishay bought International Rectifier's power control systems business for $290 million in cash early last year.
According to a regulatory filing by International Rectifier, Vishay has accused it of misstating forecasts of one of PCS's business units.
Vishay subsequently sold that automotive modules and subsystems business unit but contended that it had suffered a $50 million loss, the filing said. International Rectifier said in the filing that the accusations had no merit.
A spokesman for Vishay said yesterday that his firm's interest in acquiring International Rectifier predated the dispute.
Peter Henrici, Vishay's spokesman, said the acquisition would allow his company to expand its product line. "We have very little product overlap," he said.
He said that Vishay would have to seek new financing, apart from the repurchase of debt earlier this summer.
According to its Web site, Vishay had revenue of $2.83 billion last year and has been growing through acquisitions. The deal would be the company's largest purchase with a publicly disclosed price.
Vishay was founded in 1962 by physicist Felix Zandman to make and sell the foil resistors he had invented.
The company was named after the village in Lithuania where relatives of Zandman's and his financial supporter, Alfred P. Slaner, died during the Holocaust.