Fairchild to Acquire Samsung Chip Unit

Fairchild Semiconductor Corp., which makes chips used in machines from toasters to cars, said it will buy a Samsung Electronics Co. unit for about $455 million, expanding its line of specialized semiconductors. The purchase of Samsung’s Power Device Division, which makes chips for consumer electronics, includes Samsung’s semiconductor manufacturing plant in Bucheon, South Korea. Closely held Fairchild, which was spun off last year from National Semiconductor Corp., said it also will acquire Samsung’s design operations at the factory. The all-cash transaction will expand South Portland, Maine-based Fairchild’s line of chips designed for specific uses, such as television sets, videocassette recorders and audio systems. It also will gain a new line of chips that regulate power supplies for devices such as lighting fixtures and automatic car seats. “It will take us from being a smaller player to being a major player globally,” Fairchild spokeswoman Fran Harrison said. Samsung Electronics, part of South Korea’s second-largest business group, is selling the division as part of its plan to concentrate on computer memory and logic chips.