N.Y. company acquires Conexant

A semiconductor company from New York has acquired Newport Beach-based Conexant Systems Inc. for $284 million, Conexant officials said Monday in a news release.

SMSC, headquartered in Hauppauge, N.Y., has struck a deal with Conexant — a supplier of semiconductor solutions for imaging, audio, embedded modem and video surveillance applications — through which SMSC will buy all of Conexant’s outstanding shares in a stock and cash transaction as well as assume Conexant’s net debt, the release said.

“In our industry, size and scope provide a significant advantage with customers and suppliers,” Scott Mercer, Conexant’s chairman and chief executive said in a prepared statement. “SMSC and Conexant share similar core competencies in analog and mixed-signal design, possess complementary product portfolios, and count many customers in common. By joining forces, we get the opportunity to take advantage of economies of scale and drive profitable growth.”

In a separate release issued by Conexant on Monday, company officials announced that Conexant’s annual stockholders meeting, scheduled for Jan. 20, was being postponed because of the announced acquisition by SMSC.