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Apple Acquires PMIC Technology and over 300 Employees from Dialog Semi

October 11, 2018 by Paul Shepard

Dialog Semiconductor plc announced an agreement with Apple Inc. to license certain of its power management technologies, transfer certain of its assets and over 300 employees to Apple to support chip research and development. Apple will pay $300 million in cash for the transaction and prepay $300 million for Dialog products to be delivered over the next three years.

The employees who are being transferred have worked closely with Apple for many years, and this transition will foster deeper collaboration between the two companies.

Dialog also announces that it has been awarded a broad range of new contracts from Apple for the development and supply of power management, audio subsystem, charging and other mixed-signal integrated circuits. Revenue from the new contracts is expected to be realized starting in 2019 and accelerating in 2020 and 2021.

Dialog plans to accelerate its transformation to become a market-leading provider of differentiated custom and configurable mixed-signal ICs across a broader customer base in fast-growing segments of the IoT, Mobile, Automotive and Computing & Storage markets.

Dialog's power conversion, connectivity, configurable mixed-signal, audio and charging ICs address markets that are expected to grow at a 13% CAGR to reach $13 billion by 2021. Dialog will continue to deliver PMICs to other customers globally.

Jalal Bagherli, CEO of Dialog, said: "This transaction reaffirms our long-standing relationship with Apple, and demonstrates the value of the strong business and technologies we have built at Dialog. Going forward, we will have a clear strategic focus, building on our custom and configurable mixed-signal IC expertise and worldclass power-efficient design. Our execution track record, deep customer relationships, and talented employees give us great confidence in our future growth prospects."

"We believe that this transaction is in the best interests of our employees and shareholders who will benefit from a business with enhanced focus, strong growth prospects and additional financial flexibility to invest in strategic growth initiatives," added Bagherli.

Apple will employ more than 300 Dialog engineers and other employees already supporting Apple chip development, representing approximately 16% of Dialog's total workforce. Apple will assume certain Dialog facilities in Livorno (Italy), Swindon (U.K.), Nabern and Neuaubing (Germany).

"Dialog has deep expertise in chip development, and we are thrilled to have this talented group of engineers who've long supported our products now working directly for Apple," said Johny Srouji, Apple's senior vice president of Hardware Technologies.

"Our relationship with Dialog goes all the way back to the early iPhones, and we look forward to continuing this long-standing relationship with them."

Dialog's 2018 revenue will not be affected by this agreement, and the company will continue shipments of current products in production to Apple. The proceeds from the transaction further strengthen Dialog's balance sheet, enabling the company to accelerate investments - including M&A - in growth opportunities across IoT, Mobile, Automotive and Computing & Storage markets. Dialog also intends to initiate a share buyback program of up to 10% of its outstanding shares following its Q3 trading update.

The transaction is expected to be completed in the first half of 2019, subject to applicable regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

Qatalyst Partners is acting as financial advisor, and Linklaters is acting as legal counsel to Dialog in relation to the transaction.