Microchip completed its acquisition of Microsemi on May 29, 2018
– Significantly Expands Microchip’s solutions for Data Center, Communications, Defense and Aerospace Markets
– Expected to be immediately accretive to non-GAAP earnings per share
– Estimated $300 million in synergies in the third year after close of transaction
– Adds strong complementary analog and mixed-signal product lines supporting Microchip 2.0 strategy
Chandler, Arizona and Aliso Viejo, California – March 1, 2018 – Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ: MCHP), a leading provider of microcontroller, mixed-signal, analog and Flash-IP solutions, and Microsemi Corporation (NASDAQ: MSCC), a leading provider of semiconductor solutions differentiated by power, security, reliability and performance, today announced that the two companies have signed a definitive agreement pursuant to which Microchip will acquire Microsemi for $68.78 per share in cash. The acquisition price represents a total equity value of about $8.35 billion, and a total enterprise value of about $10.15 billion, after accounting for Microsemi’s cash and investments, net of debt, on its balance sheet at December 31, 2017.
“We are delighted to welcome Microsemi to become part of the Microchip team and look forward to closing the transaction and working together to realize the benefits of a combined team pursuing a unified strategy. Even as we execute a very successful Microchip 2.0 strategy that is enabling organic revenue growth in the mid to high single digits, Microchip continues to view accretive acquisitions as a key strategy to deliver incremental growth and stockholder value. The Microsemi acquisition is the latest chapter of this strategy and will add further operational and customer scale to Microchip,” said Steve Sanghi, Chairman and CEO of Microchip.
“Microchip and Microsemi have a strong tradition of delivering innovative solutions to demanding customers and markets, thus creating highly valued and long-lasting revenue streams. Joining forces and combining our complementary product portfolios and end market exposure will offer our customers a richer set of solution options to enable innovative and competitive products for the markets they serve,” said Ganesh Moorthy, President and COO of Microchip.
“This transaction represents a compelling opportunity for Microsemi stockholders, employees and customers by combining the leading embedded control market position of Microchip Technology with the world class power, security, reliability and performance solutions from Microsemi,” said James J. Peterson, Chairman and CEO of Microsemi. “We are delighted to become part of Microchip Technology, a premier company in the semiconductor industry.”
Following the closing, the transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to Microchip’s non-GAAP earnings per share. Based on currently available information, Microchip anticipates achieving an estimated $300 million in synergies in the third year after close of transaction. Microchip plans to finance the transaction with approximately $1.6 billion of cash from the combined company balance sheets, approximately $3.0 billion from Microchip’s existing line of credit, approximately $5.0 billion in new debt and $0.6 billion of a cash bridge loan.
The Board of Directors of each company has unanimously approved the acquisition. Subject to approval by Microsemi stockholders, customary regulatory approvals and other closing conditions, the transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of calendar 2018.
J.P. Morgan is acting as Microchip’s exclusive financial advisor and is providing $5.6 billion in committed financing. Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, P.C. is acting as Microchip’s legal advisor. Qatalyst Partners is acting as exclusive financial advisor to Microsemi. O’Melveny & Myers LLP is acting as Microsemi’s legal advisor.
Read the press release
In recent articles, I’ve talked about ESMA’s MiFID II requirements and how this regulation – effective January 2018 – will require trading systems to time stamp key trading event records within an assured level of accuracy… and an assured level of granularity. If you think this only affects European financial markets, you may be surprised that MiFID II will have a global impact. Any investment firm transacting with European-based financial firms or exchanges must also comply with the new clock synchronization requirements. This will be a challenge for many firms.
As I’ve mentioned in a past post, the key technical elements of success include:
- An accurate and reliable source of UTC time
- Accurate and reliable delivery of UTC time from the source to the time stamping location
- A way to monitor time accuracy to prove compliance
I’d like to focus on the UTC time source reliability aspect in this conversation, because in this case more than ever, if the applications rely on good timekeeping, the timekeeping system itself must be reliable in multiple respects. This seems obvious, and with modern timekeeping equipment, it is engineered to be just that. Reliability must be defined in both the availability of the time and the design of the time server supplying it. Here’s what to look for in your UTC referenced network time server:
Timing reliability: Plan A – Simply put, this means time clients (i.e. the trading machines applying UTC accurate time stamps) must be able to obtain accurate UTC time stamps from the UTC time server on demand, every time for the purposes of synchronizing the local client clock. The time server needs to have the capacity to instantly respond to every time request. It should be able to crosscheck the time for accuracy and utilize multiple satellite constellations from which to derive UTC time (for example, maintaining simultaneous tracking of GPS and GLONASS satellites).
Timing reliability: Plan B – The wise network engineer always has a Plan B in the event Plan A fails. In timekeeping, a common Plan B is an atomic clock inside of the time server. Modern time servers rely on getting UTC time from satellites. If access to the satellite signals becomes unavailable for whatever reason, perhaps because of a lightning strike on/near the antenna that damages the antenna or cable, the time server must be able to continue to provide accurate time while the antenna issues are resolved. With a relatively low-cost Rubidium atomic clock installed, the antenna could be disconnected and the time server would remain accurate to the required 100 microseconds or less to UTC for several weeks. This buys the necessary time to resolve the problem and all the while remain compliant to MiFID II.
Design reliability – This is an obvious one, but with key nuances. You should get a time server that sports technology that is of higher quality components and features to ensure continuous operation. An easy reliability feature is a dual-corded, dual-power supply with load sharing and monitoring. Another tip off to a quality product is the operational temperature range. You might be thinking so what, the time server will reside in a data center, not outside. But in truth a wider temperature range means higher quality parts had to be used to meet the server operational specifications, like time accuracy. The same is true for shock and vibration specifications. These more robust environmental features ultimately improve the overall MTBF of the time server, even when it resides in a temperature controlled, non-moving data center.
You will arrive at the point where choosing a network time server with the accuracy and reliability needed to readily comply with stringent timekeeping regulations like MiFID II is a critical decision. You need to ask yourself, how capable and reliable is the UTC network time server for our trading network? Does it scale with our network? What happens if the GPS signal is lost? And perhaps most importantly, what are the ramifications or financial impact of non-compliance? This entry was written by Paul Skoog.
More Info: SyncServer S600
Stratum 1 Performance
The newly-introduced TimeSource® 3550 is a standalone Primary Reference Source (PRS) which provides Stratum 1 performance in GPS hostile environments via external wall mount or roof mounts. Its new highly integrated rubidium oscillator maintains extended holdover spec with reduced footprint.
TimeSource 3550 consists of single unit modules that plug into a rack-mounted shelf. It operates with an external high precision GPS timing antenna to meet GR-2830 and EN 300 462-6-1 requirements, and comes with two output ports that are software configurable for T1, E1, 2.048 MHz or composite clock to support frequency timing applications. There is also a SW License option for 8 additional outputs. TimeSource 3550 is hardware-ready for IEEE 1588v2 /PTP and Sync-E.
Two shelves are available: ANSI standard with rear connectors and ETSI standard with front facing connector access. The TimeSource 3050 modules may be used in previously supplied shelves of TimeSource 3000 and 3100 products.
Improved GPS antenna design
The new GPS antennas for the TimeSource 3550 provide advanced narrowband filtering to protect against interference from adjacent spectrum. They also provide automatic compensation for cable delay via TWTT (Two-Way Time Transfer). The GPS antenna can be installed up to 1,000 feet from the office shelf, without amplifiers, using inexpensive thin coax cable.
Environmentally Friendly
Energy-efficient hardware yields substantial OPEX savings with dramatically reduced power consumption. The product is also fully ROHS compliant (ROHS 6/6).
Key Features
- Advanced multi-input clock engine
- High precision timing antenna with integrated GPS receiver
- Up to 1000 foot antenna cabling with automatic delay compensation
- Timing accuracy of 100 ns when locked to GPS
- Rubidium holdover
- T1, E1, 2.048 MHz, and 10 MHz inputs and outputs
- 1 PPS and TOD output ports
- Sync status messaging on E1/T1 ports
- Integrated sync monitoring of input ports
- Optional SNTP server
- NEBS Level 3 compliant
- Low power consumption
RELATED NEWS:
https://syncworks.com/microsemi/timesource-3×00-gps-week-number-rollover/
The GPS system has a week rollover event once every 1024 weeks (~19.69 years). The next scheduled GPS system week number rollover will happen on 7th April 2019. The TimeSource system rollover occurs 24 weeks ahead of the GPS system rollover. Starting on 21st October 2018 the TimeSource system date jumps back to year 1999 (7th March 1999). The system remains locked to GPS and there are no alarms to indicate this jump. No additional roll back event happens on the GPS system rollover date of April 7, 2019 since the TimeSource system rolled back 24 weeks early and continues to count forward through the April 7, 2019 GPS system rollover date.
This roll back has no impact to the PRS frequency outputs of the TimeSource system. The roll back affects the internal log timestamps associated with system event logs and Autonomous Output (AO) messages. This roll back also affects the TimeSource auxiliary time outputs for TOD (Time of Day) serial connection, and NTP (optional software license).
Got Questions? We can help, Call Us Today (904)280-1234 or Email Us
New Turnkey Solution Leverages Synergies of Multiple Microsemi Products to Significantly Reduce Software Development for Customers
ALISO VIEJO, Calif., Nov. 21, 2017
Microsemi’s new IEEE 1588 timing synchronization module streamlines customers’ developments to add synchronization network timing to their designs, simplifies the sourcing process and reduces development time while providing an easy integration. The module also includes drivers, servos/algorithm firmware, IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol (PTP) stack software, a user guide and reference board schematics to deliver a fully tested chip-set solution from a trusted tier-one vendor.
“Our differentiated programmable solutions portfolio, including the SmartFusion2 SoC and PolarFire® FPGA, is gaining rapid acceptance in the communications and industrial infrastructure market,” said Bruce Weyer, vice president and business unit manager for programmable devices at Microsemi. “This tightly integrated solution with our class-leading timing and PHY components will further increase our momentum in these markets where highly accurate timing synchronization is becoming a clear requirement.”
The IEEE 1588 timing synchronization module blends Microsemi’s expertise in nanosecond-level accurate timestamping for IEEE 1588 via the VSC8575 Ethernet PHY; embedded IEEE 1588 protocol engine and servo via its SmartFusion2 SoC FPGA host processor; and high precision clock generation, holdover and reference switching via its ZL30363 system synchronizer. The solution is addressed via a command line interface to minimize software integration efforts. The combination of these capabilities makes the new solution ideal for applications within the industrial networking, smart grids, communications, defense and data center markets. Depending on the applications holdover and reliability requirements, either an XO, TCXO or OCXO can be used to provide holdover supported by the IEEE 1588 timing synchronization module.
According to a 2017 GNSS Market Report, issue 5, the timing capability offered by satellite navigation systems is at the core of most vital infrastructures; telecom networks operation, energy distribution, financial transactions and TV broadcast are some examples of areas where a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) is used for timing or synchronization purposes. The annual shipments of GNSS devices used in the timing and synchronization market will exceed 300,000 units in 2017 and are expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.3 percent over 2017-2025. Catering to this growth opportunity, Microsemi’s new IEEE 1588 timing synchronization module is designed specifically for such applications, which require much more precise timing, including base stations and small cell markets for 5G, 4G, 4G LTE, LTE-Advanced, microwave and millimeter wave based fixed wireless networks, smart grids and secure edge networks.
Other key features of Microsemi’s new IEEE 1588 timing synchronization module include:
- High accuracy timestamping of less than 4 nanoseconds
- Frequency and phase synchronization
- Holdover with initial accuracy of <1ppb and long-term holdover of 1.5µs over 24 hours using the appropriate performance OCXO
- Hitless reference switching
- Precision frequency and phase control
- Multiple profiles, including IEEE 1588-2008 Annex J.3 End-to-End
- IEEE 1588-2008 Annex J.4 Peer-to-Peer
- IEEE C37.238-2011 Power Profile
- ITU-T G.8275.1 Telecom Profile for Phase
- ITU-T G.8265.1 Telecom Profile for Frequency
For Ordering Information – Call Us (904)280-1234 or Get A Quote
Microsemi Corporation
September 7, 2017
Product Discontinuance Notification (PDN) Update
Subject: Notice of Last Time Buy and Manufacture Discontinuance of some TimeProvider 5000 IMC Cards
Microsemi® (formerly Symmetricom®) offers a last time buy prior to the discontinuance of the items listed below. Unless stated otherwise in your contract, last time buy orders must be received by February 28, 2018. The products listed below have direct replacements.
If your product is not currently covered under a Microsemi service and support contract, please contact Microsemi immediately to obtain contract coverage. Last time buy for service and support contracts is April 1, 2018 and may be purchased to cover the product up to April 1, 2020.
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Definitions
Manufacture Discontinuance (MD): MD means product will no longer be manufactured or available for sale beginning with the date specified above.
Last Time Order Date: Orders for this product must be received by this date.
End of Life: EOL means product will no longer be repaired or serviced except if under an extended coverage service contract.
Support Policy
Repair services will be available on a repair or replacement basis during the warranty/contract period. In the event of parts or component obsolescence, repairs will be made on a best efforts basis until the end of life. All other service options (telephone technical support, training, etc.) are available from Microsemi Frequency and Time Division’s service and support organization on a contract or case-by-case basis. Interested customers should contact the Microsemi Frequency and Time Division to check a product’s eligibility for services and any applicable terms.
