Infineon speeds up its acquisition pace

Infineon CEO Wolfgang Ziebart has announced the company is speeding up its acquisition pace. In an interview with Financial Times Deutschland, Ziebert said he is willing to put up with higher debts to carry out the company's acquisition plans.

Ziebart pointed out that further acquisitions would not require the sale of Infineon's existing Qimonda holdings. The company recently said it is expediting the sale of its remaining 86-percent stake in its memory chip spin-off. According to the paper, Infineon is presently valued at about Rs.17,109.63 crore ($4.23 billion).

Ziebart is determined push the company's acquisition plans, obviously expecting the consolidation in the semiconductor market to continue and intending to use acquisitions as a measure to strengthen its own position. "We want to belong to the consolidators, not to the consolidateds," Ziebart said in the interview.

"We will consider acquisitions even if we won't sell Qimonda shares," Ziebart highlighted. "If we see a reasonable acquisition opportunity, we can consider alternative funding possibilities. We will dispose of sufficient lines of credit."

The paper assumes high pressure on Ziebart to succeed since rumours are rampant that financial investors could leverage the low share price to take over Infineon.

Recently, Infineon announced its purchase of LSI's mobility product line. In addition, Ziebart had signalised several times in the past that he intends to strengthen the company's stand in Japan by possibly acquiring a semiconductor company involved in the Japanese automotive electronics market.

- Christoph Hammerschmidt
EE Times Europe