triquint_wafer_abby_metty.JPG
The fate of TriQuint's Hillsboro chip factory won't be resolved until after the deal.
(Abby Metty/The Oregonian)
Qorvo has a birthday: December 31.
Hillsboro-based TriQuint Semiconductor and North Carolina's RF Micro Devices said Monday they have finally received the last regulatory approvals for their deal to combine the company and they plan to close the deal on New Year's Eve.
It's the largest business combination in the history of Oregon technology, valuing the two companies at more than $8.3 billion. They are calling their new business "Qorvo," and say the combination will save them $150 million in their first two years.
The two communications chip companies had been awaiting final sign-off from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) for a deal they announced in February.
Both TriQuint and RFMD make specialized communications chips for networking equipment, the iPhone and other smartphones, and for the defense industry. TriQuint was struggling coming into 2014, and an activist investor helped force the deal with RFMD in February.
Since then, however, its business has been surging amid demand for new networking technologies – TriQuint's stock is up 150 percent since it announced the deal with RFMD.
Shareholders in each company will receive half of the new one when they begin trading on NASDAQ January 2 under the ticker symbol QRVO. TriQuint is among the biggest tech companies in Oregon, which close to 1,000 employees at its Hillsboro headquarters and chip factory.
RFMD chief executive Bob Bruggeworth will run the combined business, which has said it won't select a single headquarters right away. TriQuint chief financial officer Steve Buhaly will oversee Qorvo's books from Hillsboro.
One of Qorvo's first priorities will be to decide whether to close TriQuint's chip factory in Hillsboro, or whether to shutter RFMD's factory in North Carolina instead. The companies say they will likely have too much manufacturing capacity following their deal.
Plans call for them to spend a few months evaluating each facility before making a decision, after which it will begin a multi-year process of shutting one down. If the Hillsboro factory does close TriQuint has said it will likely continue operating into 2017.
-- Mike Rogoway; twitter: @rogoway; 503-294-7699