Cypress: Early Termination Of Waiting Period Under HSR Act For Spansion Merger

(RTTNews) - Cypress Semiconductor Corp (CY) and Spansion Inc (CODE) on Friday said that the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission have granted early termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (HSR) for their merger proposal.

The companies have also received notification from Germany's Federal Cartel Office that the acquisition has been cleared to proceed.

The closing of the transaction remains subject to other customary closing conditions, and approval by Cypress and Spansion stockholders. The companies expect the deal to close in the first half of 2015.

In December, Cypress and Spansion agreed to merge in an all-stock, tax-free transaction valued at approximately $4 billion. The post-merger company will generate more than $2 billion in revenue annually and create a global provider of microcontrollers and specialized memories needed in embedded systems.

Under the terms of the deal, Spansion shareholders will receive 2.457 Cypress shares for each Spansion share they own. The shareholders of each company will own about 50 percent of the post-merger company.