Microsemi Buys Firm to Expand Customer Base

Microsemi Corp., a Santa Ana maker of semiconductor diodes, has acquired a tiny Torrance-based producer of specialized semiconductors in a move to expand its customer base.

The purchase price for Bikor Corp. was not disclosed, but David R. Sonksen, Microsemi’s vice president for finance, said the company was acquired for “less than $1 million” in cash and Microsemi stock.

None of Bikor’s 40 employees are expected to be laid off, he said, adding that there will be no “significant” cost cutting because Bikor already is “fairly lean.”

The acquisition is not expected to have a significant impact on Microsemi’s consolidated revenues or profits in the near future, Philip Frey Jr., Microsemi’s president and chief executive, said in a prepared statement.

Bikor, with annual sales of less than one-tenth the total of Microsemi’s $34.6 million, will continue to operate under Ronald Pizer, who had been sole owner of the 16-year-old company. The acquisition of Bikor, a Microsemi customer, not only expands Microsemi’s market but adds technological knowledge to the parent company, Sonksen said.

Bikor makes complex, or multi-function, semiconductors for specialized telecommunications, industrial and commercial applications. Microsemi makes single-function electric power supply products, such as diodes and resistors, for aerospace defense, medical, telecommunications and computer markets.