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Microchip Technology Inc. Clears Antitrust Hurdles In China, Global Targets

Microchip Technology
Ben Flores/KJZZ
Outside Microchip Technology's facility in Tempe.

Chandler-based Microchip Technology Inc. received antitrust clearance Tuesday from China to move forward with an acquisition of rival, Microsemi Corp. This clearance means a move forward for an $8.35 billion dollar acquisition first announced three months ago. Microchip agreed to buy California-based Microsemi, the largest U.S. commercial supplier of military and aerospace semiconductor equipment. 

The approval from China's Ministry of Commerce comes days after President Trump decided to revisit penalties for Chinese company Z-T-E Corp for defying U.S. sanctions on trade with Iran. It also comes ahead of a meeting later this week on trade issues between senior Chinese and U.S. officials in Washington. The deal is expected to close in the next couple of months.

Microchip, which makes analog chips for car makers and industrials also received antitrust clearances from the Japan Fair Trade Commission, the Philippine Competition Commission, the Austrian Federal Competition Authority and the German Federal Cartel Office.

California-based Microsemi supplies high-performance analog and mixed signal integrated circuits and semiconductors to the aerospace and defense, communications, data center and industrial sectors. Microsemi, which has grown in the last few years through a wave of acquisitions, has said it wants to expand further in aerospace and defense. Microchip currently gets about 2 percent of its annual sales from the aerospace and defense markets.

The deal has already received antitrust approval in the United States and is expected to close in late May or early June.  

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Heather van Blokland was a host at KJZZ from 2016 to 2021.