Vishay ups offer to buy rest of Siliconix

Electronics component maker Vishay Intertechnolgy Inc. today said it has begun an increased offer to buy the 19

Electronics component maker Vishay Intertechnolgy Inc. today said it has begun an increased offer to buy the 19.6 percent of power-conversion components maker Siliconix Inc. it does not already own for about $227 million in stock.

Thew US based Vishay, which proposed a cash offer for the remainder of Siliconix in February, said in a statement it would exchange 1.5 of its shares for each share of Santa Clara, California-based Siliconix. Vishay shares closed on Thursday at $25.81 on the New York Stock Exchange.

The new offer, equal to $38.72 per Siliconix share, represents a premium of nearly 35 percent over the original cash offer price of $28.82 proposed by Vishay on Feb. 22. It is also a premium of nearly 18 percent over Siliconix's closing Nasdaq stock price on Thursday of $32.85.

Vishay said it has no agreement with Siliconix regarding its new offer. After Vishay's original offer, Siliconix's board appointed a special committee to evaluate the offer. The committee has since hired investment banking firm Lehman Brothers but has not publicly announced a decision on the offer.

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The offer for the 5.86 million shares in public hands will expire at midnight on June 22, Vishay said. Additional details were not immediately available.