{UPDATE: This article was originally published on October 26. And at that time, there was no word from either Texas Instruments or Micron Technology as to whether or not TI had completed its acquisition of the Micron semiconductor plant in Lehi, Utah.
Since then, I uncovered the following LinkedIn Post on the official TI LinkedIn account (https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6859130373960417280/) which says (in part)
"We are excited to officially welcome the Lehi, Utah team to TI."
Then, prior to writing this Update, I thought I would check the legal company filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
And sure enough, buried on page 14 of the TI Third Quarter Report (ended Sept. 30, 2021) is this sentence:
"In October 2021, we completed our acquisition of Micron Technology’s 300-millimeter semiconductor factory in Lehi, Utah, for cash consideration of about $900 million." (Emphasis added.)
So there you have it: the deal is OFFICIALLY DONE. Texas Instruments is now the proud owner of the former Micron / IM Flash semiconductor plant in Lehi.
ONE MORE THING: In deference to the TI investor relations professionals I was trying to reach last week ... it's now clear to me that none of them could have spoken to me about this article when I was writing it because the company was in a "Quiet Period," just hours away from filing its Quarterly Report.
With this additional information, their lack of responsiveness is understood.
Bottom line? Welcome to the Silicon Slopes of Utah, Texas Instruments.
What follows below is the original article.}
In case you were wondering, it appears that Texas Instruments (NasdaqGS:TXN) has officially acquired the semiconductor plant in Lehi, Utah from Micron Technology (NasdaqGS:MU).
Except you wouldn't know that the acquisition had closed by scouring the news releases of either company or their respective filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
And except for a single sentence in a news release published yesterday by a Seattle-based company named ATREG, we would still not know that the transaction had closed. The sentence in question?
"The transaction previously announced in June 2021 for $900 million has closed."
{NOTE: See our July article, "Micron Announces Sales of its Lehi Plant and Assets for $1.5 Billion in Total," to get the details on the initial announcement of the $900 million sale of the fabrication plant.}
Back To this Breaking News ...
To provide more context, yesterday's ATREG news release explains that it "specializes in helping global companies divest and acquire infrastructure-rich advanced technology manufacturing assets, including front-end and back-end semiconductor fabs, cleanroom facilities, and technology campuses in North America, Europe, and Asia."
In the case of the Micron/TI deal, TI's SVP of of Technology and Manufacturing, Kyle Flessner, is quoted in the ATREG news release as saying:
"ATREG was instrumental in helping us (TI) identify and strategize this acquisition. We are thankful to the team for getting us in the negotiating process when they did.”
Interestingly, when you look-up ATREG's list of prior transactions it has worked on since its launch in 2000, you'll see that the company lists seven separate deals with either TI or Micron.
And yes, a copy of yesterday's news release from ATREG is posted on its website.
Seeking Formal Confirmation. Unsuccessfully.
For the record, I have unsuccessfully tried numerous times this morning to reach various individuals working in the investor relations and media relations departments of both Texas Instruments and Micron Technology, respectively, all to no avail. And this includes both multiple phone calls/voicemail messages, as well as emails.
In fact, the only person I could actually get on the phone with me "live" was a receptionist at Micron and that took a bit of doing just to find the right phone number.
Nevertheless, if you turn to LinkedIn and begin looking up Micron, IM Flash and/or Texas Instruments employees based in Utah, you'll find that during October 2021 many individuals have
- Changed the name of their employer to Texas Instruments, and/or
- Have shared Posts on LI about now being employed by TI.
Case in point this LI Post below.
It's from a brand new TI employee expressing gratitude to his/her former Micron colleagues and sharing her/his excitement of being part of Texas Instruments on a go-forward-basis because, as he/she writes,
(Micron) "Fab 2 has officially been acquired by Texas Instruments."
Taken in concert, although I do not have formal confirmation from the PR or IR departments at either Micron or TI that the purchase of the semiconductor plant in Lehi has been completed, I am quite confident that there is enough evidence that the deal is, in fact, done (starting with yesterday's ATREG news release).
So ... welcome to Utah's Silicon Slopes, Texas Instruments.
One More Thing
I have been unable to verify whether or not the separate $600 million sale of “select tools and other assets” from the Lehi fabrication plant has also closed.
Micron's news release from early July said it expected to complete a separate transaction with "unnamed buyers."
So whether or not this separate deal has been consummated or not I do not know.
Do you? If so, please drop us at line at news@siliconslopes.com. Thanks.
