Western Digital to Buy SanDisk for $19 Billion – WSJ.

Western Digital Corp. agreed to buy SanDisk Corp. for about $19 billion in cash and stock, a deal that positions the disk-drive maker for growth in the struggling storage industry. SanDisk was thought to be shopping for a buyer as the semiconductor industry rapidly consolidates, and industry watchers had said Western Digital or Micron Technology Inc.would be logical bidders. The offer values SanDisk at $86.50 a share, a 15% premium to Tuesday’s close. SanDisk shares rose 5.7% to $79.50 premarket and were trading under $60 a share earlier this month ahead of media reports about a possible sale.

Compounding its problems was Apple’s decision to start designing its own controller chips and buying Samsung chips instead of SanDisk’s SSDs.

Adding to that, it’s race to bottom in the semiconductor for pricing, tough business – Read more.

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