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| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Semiconductors |
| Founded | 2004; 21 years ago (2004) |
| Defunct | December 7, 2015; 9 years ago (2015-12-07) |
| Fate | Merged |
| Successor | NXP Semiconductors |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | Greg Lowe,CEO[1] |
| Revenue |  $4.186 billion (2013)[1] |
| $531 million (2013) | |
 -$208 million (2013) | |
Number of employees | 16,800(2013)[1] |
| Website | freescale |
Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. was an Americansemiconductor manufacturer. It was created by the divestiture of the Semiconductor Products Sector ofMotorola in 2004. Freescale focused theirintegrated circuit products on the automotive,embedded and communications markets. It was bought by a private investor group in 2006, and subsequently merged withNXP Semiconductors in 2015.[2]
As of 2003, Motorola Semiconductor Products Sector earned US$5.0billion in semiconductor sales in 2002 (out of US$27 billion sales for all of Motorola).[3][4]
Motorola announced that their semiconductor division would be divested on October 6, 2003 and would have a temporary nameSPS Spinco.[5]
Freescale completed itsInitial public offering (IPO) on July 16, 2004, at a price of US$13. In its announcement, it estimated the stock price to be US$17.50- 19.50 but following a cooling of the market towards tech stocks, it lowered its price to US$13. Existing shareholders of Motorola stock received 0.110415 shares of Freescale stock for every share of Motorola stock as a dividend which was distributed on December 2, 2004.[6]
On September 15, 2006, Freescale agreed to accept abuyout for the sum of $17.6 billion ($40 per share) by a consortium led by theBlackstone Group. Share prices of $13 at the July 2004 IPO had risen to $39.35 in afterhours trading that Friday when the news, rumored that week, broke. A special shareholders meeting on November 13, 2006, voted to accept the buyout offer. The purchase, which closed on December 1, 2006, is reportedly the largest private buyout of a technology company and one of the ten largest buyouts of all time.[7][8][9][10]
Freescale filed to go public again on February 11, 2011, and completed its IPO on May 26, 2011. Freescale was traded on the New York Stock Exchange under theticker symbol FSL. At the time of the IPO, the company had $7.6 billion in outstanding debt on its books,[11] and the company was investigated for misconduct related to this IPO.[12]
On March 8, 2014, Freescale announced that 20 of its employees were lost aboardMalaysia Airlines Flight 370.[13]
A merger agreement withNXP Semiconductors was announced in March 2015, to form aUS$40 (equivalent to $53.06 in 2024) billion company.[14][15] The acquisition closed on December 7, 2015.[16][17]
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AMEMS-basedsatelliteaccelerometer, anAirbag System Basis Chip as well as a dual-axis SPI inertial sensor designed for use with thePSI5 open standard airbag systems were announced in 2011.[18] A microcontroller meant to be used inanti-lock braking systems as well as electronicpower steering applications was released in 2008.[19] Freescale also produced pressure sensors forengine management systems.[20]
Freescale's SMARTMOS analog portfolio provides power actuation and multiple switch detect interface family ICs and system basis chips for hybrid vehicles.[21]
In November 2008 Freescale announced that the company would collaborate withMcLaren Electronic Systems to further develop its KERS system forMcLaren'sFormula One car from 2010 onwards. Both parties believed this collaboration would improve McLaren's KERS system and help the system filter down to road car technology.[22]
Besides the MSG (Micro-controller Solutions Group), Freescale's other major semiconductor businesses are the NMG (Networking and Multimedia Group) as well as RASG (RF, Analog and Sensors Group). Freescale, under the guidance of IBM, had also been a source ofPowerPC microprocessors (ICs) forApple Computer'sPowerBooks andMac mini products until theMac transition to Intel processors in 2006.[23] They joinedPower.org in 2006 as a founding member to develop and promote the use ofPower Architecture.[24]
DragonBall is a low power derivation of the earlierMotorola 68000 family microprocessors. Freescale also has a portfolio ofDigital Signal Processor (DSP) products based on StarCore Technology. Freescale's DSPs are being used in Broadband Wireless,Voice Over IP and video infrastructure systems.
Freescale was sued byMarvell Semiconductor for infringing seven patents. The case was settled in 2015.[25]
Freescale lost a patent infringement lawsuit filed byTessera Corporation and was forced to pay an undisclosed amount as part of the settlement.[26]
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