OmniVision To Be Acquired By A Group Of Chinese Private Equity Firms

OmniVision Technologies Inc., a US maker of chips and image sensors used in smartphones and tablets, has agreed to be acquired by a group of Chinese private equity firms for about $1.9 billion. Santa Clara-based OmniVision manufactures sensors, chips and other components for smartphones and tablets.

According to Reuters, Chinese private equity firms Hua Capital Management Co Ltd, CITIC Capital Holdings Ltd and Goldstone Investment will pay the US-based company $29.75 per share in cash, a premium of 12 percent to OmniVision's closing stock price on Wednesday. This is the latest in a series of tech deals that have seen Chinese state-backed companies acquiring American semiconductor groups, as a part of  abroad effort to beef up portfolio and to compete more effectively in the global market.

Based in Santa Clara, California, OmniVision Technologies is a corporation that designs and develops digital imaging products. It has offices in US, western Europe and Asia, including the company's design and tetsing facility in Shanghai, China. OmniVirion supplies Apple with the back-illuminated CMOS sensor used in the iPhone 4's backside camera.

OmniVision used to be the largest chip maker in its field but it lost its track and market share after tech giant Apple stopped using its chips in the latest version of iPhones. 

US-based JPMorgan Securities advised OmnoVision, while Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati was its legal adviser. In addition, BofA Merril Lynch acted as the financial adviser to the group of Chinese private equity firms. 

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