It's a rare day that a huge price cut is seen as a win for the selling party. But Synaptics stock was leaping in premarket trading Friday as shareholders welcomed On Semiconductor downsizing its offer for the internet-of-things company but paying up in cash.
On Semiconductor-known as Onsemi-said late Thursday that it would pay $123 a share for Synaptics in an all-cash deal, valuing the company at around $5.7 billion. That's set to replace an earlier all-stock deal that had valued Synaptics at about $7 billion in June.
Synaptics shares were up 14% at $121 in the premarket session. Onsemi shares gained 6.2% to $85.01.
Onsemi shares have dropped by around a third since their midsummer highs and the decreasing implied value of its all-stock offer was casting doubt on the deal. Onsemi said Thursday it had revised its deal after Synaptics received an unsolicited competing offer.
"As was the case when we initially announced the acquisition, Synaptics addresses an important aspect of our strategic direction, and we believe the revised merger agreement represents a more financially attractive transaction for our shareholders," Onsemi CEO Hassane El-Khoury said in a statement.
Known for making analog chips for automotive and industrial markets, Onsemi has grown its sales to data centers but hasn't been a central player in the artificial-intelligence boom. The company sees an opening in edge AI, however, which refers to computing done on local devices rather than in the cloud.
Synaptics' combination of processors, connectivity solutions, and software platform can help power physical AI applications, such as autonomous driving and robotics.