Conexant Systems Inc. (CNXT) recently announced that Oppenheimer & Co. Inc, the underwriter for its recently concluded public offering of 7,000,000 shares, exercised its option to purchase an additional 1,050,000 shares. As a result of this exercise, Conexant was able to sell a total of 8,050,000 shares at a price of $2.85 per share. After deducting the underwriting discount and estimated offering expenses, Conexant received approximately $21.2 million from the allotment of the shares. Conexant had earlier granted Oppenheimer & Co Inc a 30-day option to purchase up to 1,050,000 additional shares to cover over-allotments. Conexant intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes. Management has stated that the company will use all proceeds to strengthen its balance sheet by retiring debt. Conexant had already announced plans to retire $80 million in the aggregate principal amount of floating-rate senior secured notes ...

Conexant Systems (CNXT) announced that it will offer seven million shares of its common stock in an underwritten public offering. The company also stated that it would grant Oppenheimer & Co Inc, the underwriter for the offering, a 30-day option to purchase up to 1.05 million additional shares to cover over-allotments. The company plans to use the net proceeds of the offering for general corporate purposes which include repaying, redeeming, or repurchasing existing debt, and for working capital, capital expenditures, and acquisitions. Headquartered in Newport Beach, CA, Conexant Systems designs and develops semiconductor solutions that enable consumers to access the digital world. It operates in an intensely competitive market with many rivals in and outside the United States, including Analog Devices (ADI), Broadcom Corp. (BRCM) and Texas Instruments (TXN). Last month, Conexant sold its Broadband Access product lines to Ikanos Communications Inc. for ...

Conexant Systems Inc. (CNXT) recently completed the sale of its Broadband Access product lines to Ikanos Communications Inc. for $54 million. Conexant received about $47 million in cash, while the remaining payment is subject to an escrow to be released in one year. The company expects to record a gain of approximately $35 million in the current quarter from the sale.

With the sale of its broadband access business, the company completed a major part of its restructuring and now plans to concentrate solely on providing solutions for imaging, audio, video and various embedded-modem applications.

Management said that the company will use all proceeds to strengthen its balance sheet by retiring debt. Conexant had already announced plans to retire $80 million aggregate principal amount of floating rate senior secured notes due in November 2010. It will commence a tender offer for $73 million notes and intends to buy

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O2Micro International Ltd. (OIIM) now expects better second-quarter sales than it had previously thought, which has sent shares of the company higher by 8% today.

< ?DART(15);?> That's more than enough for the company to make the Zacks #1 Rank Top Performers List on a tough day that sees the Dow and NASDAQ each down by more than 2%.

OIIM develops and markets innovative power management and security components for the computer, consumer, industrial and communications markets. Its products include intelligent lighting, battery management, power management and SmartCardBus(R) products. It has almost 12,000 patent claims granted, and more than 14,000 more pending.

Q2 Sales Expected to Rise 47% Sequentially

OIIM now anticipates second-quarter revenue of $34 million. Previously, it was expecting between $26.6 million and $28.9 million.

The company said the new guidance reflects resilient demand in the LCD TV market, the continued

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Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (NASDAQ: TSEM) ended the week on a high note by announcing its merger with Jazz Technologies. The merger means the new company, Jazz Semiconductor, is created as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tower Semiconductor. Tower is a specialty wafer foundry, while Jazz is a well-known specialist in Analog-Intensive Mixed-Signal Foundry solutions.

“We expect the merger of the two companies to provide expanded opportunities for growth based on the significant cross-selling opportunities and the broader, more complete product, technology, and service portfolio we are now able to offer to customers,” said Tower CEO Russell Ellwanger. “[We expect] significant improvements to our financial results, EBITDA and cash flow margins.”

In the move, Jazz Chairman and CEO will retire and begin to serve as a special advisor to the new Board of Directors. Ellwanger has been named chairman of the Jazz board of directors and is responsible for developing the final merger plan

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