Freescale to go public
Freescale Semiconductor has filed with US regulators to raise up to $1.15billion in an initial public offering (IPO). The decision to go public will enable the chip manufacturer to pay off a proportion of its debt – of which $764million matures in 2012.
The company was acquired by a consortium of private investors led by Blackstone Group in 2006 for $17.6bn. The consortium also acquired $10bn of debt, over $7.6bn of which is still owed.
In 2010 Freescale announced year on year improvements with net sales rising 27% to $4.46bn, much of which was due to improvements in the automotive sector.
