Needham downgrades Silicon Labs to Hold, doesn’t see additional bidders

Needham downgraded Silicon Labs (SLAB) to Hold from Buy and removed the firm’s prior $150 price target after the company announced an agreement to be acquired by Texas Instruments (TXN) in an all-cash transaction for $231 per share. The firm believes Texas Instruments is “uniquely positioned to generate significant deal synergies” through the insourcing of Silicon Labs’ wafer manufacturing and assembly and test requirements so it does not expect any additional bidders to emerge, the analyst tells investors.