I don't have any special information.
The MXL-SIMO deal is awaiting Chinese antitrust approval (called SAMR). There are now and then articles here and there which say the discussions are speeding up, or slowing down. I don't know if any of them are true.
Key dates are......
June 27 - if the deal doesn't close by this date, the US antitrust approval (called Hart-Scott-Rodino) for the MXL-SIMO deal expires. I expect MXL will just refile to request approval, and it will be granted quickly, although not sure how quickly.
Aug 7th - Outside date. If the deal is not complete by this date, MXL has to pay SIMO $160m and the deal is off. The two entities at that point may......
- Cancel the deal (MXL walks away, minus $160m)
- Announce a new renegotiated deal, if the terms are meaningfully different from the current deal it would probably require another SIMO shareholder vote.
- Extend the current deal (??), which is probably easy but maybe they add in something that says SIMO will pay MXL $160m if the extended deal closes, because they gotta make up for that payment
- something else, not sure what?
Yup, there are lots of call options trading, and we're heading into crunch time. The share price of SIMO (about $32 below the deal value) indicates the market thinks it's not going through. But maybe it is. Who knows?
Any day we can wake up to a press release that says "Chinese SAMR has approved the MXL-SIMO deal, and the two parties expect the deal to close in the next 3 to 4 days". However, the June 27th Hart Scott Rodino expiration means if the Chinese approve soon, then the US Hart Scott Rodino second review may become the obstacle to closing.
Interesting times..... |
