Cypress Semiconductor

Cypress Semiconductor Corporation
Company type	Public
Industry	Semiconductors
Founded	1982; 44 years ago
Founder	T. J. Rodgers
Defunct	April 17, 2020
Fate	Acquired by Infineon Technologies
Successor	Infineon Technologies
Headquarters	San Jose, California, United States
Area served	Worldwide (United States, Ireland, India, Philippines)
Key people	Hassane El-Khoury (last CEO)
Products	NOR flash memory, F-RAM, SRAM Traveo microcontrollers, PSoCs, power management ICs, capacitive touch controllers, Bluetooth Low Energy technology, USB connectivity products
Parent	Infineon Technologies (from 2020)

Cypress Semiconductor Corporation was a U.S.-based company focused on the design and production of semiconductors, specializing in NOR flash memory, F-RAM and SRAM Traveo microcontrollers, PSoCs, power management integrated circuits, capacitive touch controllers, Bluetooth Low Energy technology, and USB connectivity products.

With its main office situated in San Jose, California, Cypress maintained a worldwide presence through operations in the United States, Ireland, India, and the Philippines.

In April 2016, Cypress expanded its Internet of Things (IoT) offerings by acquiring Broadcom’s Wireless IoT Business for $550 million, broadening its range of IoT-related technologies.

By June 2019, Infineon Technologies announced plans to purchase Cypress for $9.4 billion; the acquisition was finalized in April 2020, elevating Infineon into the ranks of the top ten semiconductor manufacturers globally.

Among Cypress’s principal rivals were Microchip Technology, NXP Semiconductors, Renesas Electronics, and Micron Technology.

Founding and early development

Established in 1982 by T. J. Rodgers alongside former Advanced Micro Devices personnel, the company launched with financial support from Sevin Rosen and went public in 1986. Its initial product focus included high-speed CMOS SRAMs, EEPROMs, PAL devices, and TTL logic components. Two years after its initial public offering, Cypress transitioned from NASDAQ to the New York Stock Exchange before returning to NASDAQ in 2009.

The 2008 acquisition of Simtek introduced AgigA Tech, Inc., a subsidiary dedicated to non-volatile RAM technologies founded by Ron Sartore. This unit was divested to Unigen Corporation in May 2021. Additionally, in 2011 Cypress made a strategic investment in Deca Technologies, a packaging company that enhanced its technological portfolio.

2015

In December 2014, Cypress completed a merger with Spansion valued at $1.59 billion in an all-stock transaction that combined leaders in memory technology and embedded processing solutions. The deal closed in March 2015 with a total valuation near $5 billion and involved issuing approximately 2.457 Cypress shares for each Spansion share. The merger targeted annual cost savings exceeding $135 million within three years and was expected to positively impact non-GAAP earnings by the first full year post-merger.

At that time, Cypress possessed more than 7,000 patents across the United States and internationally and was listed in the Ocean Tomo 300 Patent Index.

During 2015, Cypress sought to acquire Integrated Silicon Solution Inc. and Atmel but was outbid; ISSI was purchased by a Chinese consortium including competitor GigaDevice for $731 million, while Dialog Semiconductor (later acquired by Microchip Technology) secured Atmel.

2016

In April 2016, Cypress expanded its wireless IoT segment by acquiring Broadcom’s Wireless Internet of Things business and associated assets for $550 million in cash. This acquisition encompassed Broadcom’s Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee IoT product lines, intellectual property rights, the WICED brand, and its developer network.

Also that month, Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, Inc. invested $60 million into Cypress’s subsidiary Deca Technologies and obtained licenses for Deca’s M-Series fan-out wafer-level packaging (FOWLP) technology. ASE and Deca agreed to collaborate on developing the M-Series manufacturing process and scaling chip-scale package production capabilities.

Cypress named Hassane El-Khoury as president and CEO with plans for him to join the board effective August 11, 2016.

2017 board conflict

In April 2017, the Delaware Chancery Court mandated that Cypress Semiconductor grant former CEO T.J. Rodgers access to internal records related to alleged breaches of the company’s Code of Business Conduct by executive chairman Ray Bingham.

Bingham, who co-founded Canyon Bridge Capital Partners—a private equity firm supported by the Chinese government—was scrutinized due to potential conflicts of interest arising from overlapping acquisition targets between Cypress and Canyon Bridge.

Rodgers initiated a proxy battle with the objective of removing Bingham and board member Éric Benhamou, proposing technology industry veterans Daniel McCranie and Camillo Martino as replacements. Under mounting shareholder pressure, Bingham stepped down from the board on June 12, 2017.

Prior to Bingham’s exit, advisory groups ISS, Glass Lewis, and Egan-Jones recommended Rodgers’s candidates, citing governance issues and conflicts of interest concerns. On June 20, 2017, Rodgers’s nominees secured board positions by a wide margin.

2019-2020 acquisition

In 2019, with Hassane El-Khouri serving as CEO, Cypress Semiconductor agreed to be acquired by Infineon Technologies in a $9 billion all-cash deal priced at $23.85 per share. This represented a 55% premium and ranked as the fourth-largest premium paid for a publicly traded semiconductor firm valued over $1 billion since 2014. The offer corresponded to an 18.2 times EBITDA multiple based on analyst forecasts for the next twelve months, placing it among the top four highest multiples in the sector for transactions of comparable size. The acquisition was finalized on April 17, 2020, marking the end of Cypress Semiconductor as an independent entity.

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