Semiconductor

U-Blox receives purchase offer from US private equity firm Advent

The semiconductor manufacturer U-Blox from Thalwil ZH is to be taken over by a US private equity company. (archive picture)

Keystone

The semiconductor manufacturer U-Blox is to be taken over by Advent International. The US private equity company has launched a public tender offer of 135 Swiss francs per share in cash. This values U-Blox at around 1.05 billion Swiss francs.

Keystone-SDA

18.08.2025, 07:06

The Board of Directors of U-Blox unanimously supports the transaction and recommends that shareholders accept the offer, according to a press release issued on Sunday evening. The largest single shareholder, SEO Master Fund LP, which holds around 9 percent of the shares, has also committed to tendering its stake.

The offer price of 135 Swiss francs per share in cash corresponds to a premium of 53 percent on the unaffected volume-weighted average price of the last six months up to August 14, 2025, i.e. before the first media reports on a possible transaction, according to the press release. For the last 60 trading days, this corresponds to a premium of 32 percent.

U-Blox describes the offer as an "attractive opportunity" for shareholders, employees and customers. Advent shares the long-term vision and will accompany the company in its next growth phase.

The offer is subject to customary conditions and regulatory approvals. Closing is expected within six months. Following completion, the U-Blox shares will be delisted from the SIX Swiss Exchange.

Share price rise already on Friday afternoon

The first rumors about Advent's interest in U-Blox had already surfaced on Friday afternoon. The Bloomberg news agency had reported on this, which caused the share price to skyrocket.

Shortly afterwards, U-Blox itself confirmed that talks were underway with Advent about a possible takeover transaction. On Friday evening, the U-Blox share closed at 138.60 Swiss francs, already higher than the takeover price now communicated.

Overall, the shares have gained 80 percent in value this year. Nevertheless, the shares are still a long way from their all-time high. In August 2016, the U-Blox share price reached 246.40 Swiss francs and U-Blox had a market capitalization of 1.7 billion Swiss francs.

At the beginning of June, the semiconductor manufacturer completed the sale of its mobile communications business to the Irish IOT specialist Trasna. With the sale, U-Blox intends to focus on its core competencies in the field of positioning technologies.