Singapore’s competition watchdog seeks feedback on Texas Instruments’ proposed acquisition of Silicon Labs
Both entities are Nasdaq-listed companies with global activities extending to the city-state
[SINGAPORE] Singapore’s competition watchdog has launched a public consultation on Texas Instruments’ (TI) proposed acquisition of wireless technology company Silicon Laboratories.
The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCS) accepted a joint application from both parties on Jul 3 to evaluate the proposed transaction, it said in a release on Thursday (Jul 9).
CCS is currently assessing whether this acquisition could result in a substantial lessening of competition within any market in Singapore.
Both entities are public companies listed on Nasdaq, and their activities, along with those of their subsidiaries, extend to Singapore.
TI is a global semiconductor enterprise that designs, manufactures and sells analogue and embedded processing chips to electronics designers and manufacturers worldwide.
Silicon Labs is a US-headquartered fabless semiconductor group that primarily designs and develops wireless connectivity solutions featuring integrated system-on-chips (SoCs). Its international headquarters for the Asia-Pacific and Europe regions is located in Singapore.
According to the joint submission, the relevant product markets involve the global supply of wireless connectivity SoCs, non-wireless microcontroller units, power management integrated circuits, sensors and universal serial bus bridges.
Impact on competition
The parties argue that the proposed transaction will not give rise to any non-coordinated or coordinated effects across the relevant markets.
To support this, TI and Silicon Labs said they consider themselves modest players within a fragmented global market that contains many significant competitors.
They noted that their customers are typically large and sophisticated entities that can readily switch and mix between different suppliers.
Furthermore, they stated the market features low barriers to entry and expansion, and maintain that they are not close competitors as their business activities are complementary.
Regarding market dynamics, the companies stated that suppliers compete on the basis of product differentiation and constant innovation.
Pricing is typically negotiated on an individual basis using various models, and customers generally have the knowledge to make well-informed comparisons of alternatives available on the market and switch suppliers in response to price changes, they said.
Additionally, the companies stated the acquisition would not trigger any vertical effects, as it impacts only a few very limited potential or actual supply relationships between them.
Conglomerate effects are also not anticipated, as neither party currently engages in bundling or tying of its products, and the deal would not provide TI with the ability or incentive to adopt such strategies.
The CCS is inviting public feedback on the proposed transaction until Jul 22.
