According to this Bloomberg article, HCA Inc. will be bought out by Bain Capital LLC, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.,Merrill Lynch & Co. and HCA co-founder Thomas F. Frist Jr. The total value of the buyout is $33 billion, representing the largest buyout in U.S. history.
The semiconductor industry is abuzz with rumors of a possible deal involving Royal Philips Electronics NV. This article reports "that private equity firms may be willing to pay around 8 billion euros ($10.1 billion) for the company's semiconductor division." This division manufactures "chips for mobile phones, mp3 players, televisions and cars."
In other news, AMD intends to buy ATI Technologies Inc. for $5.4 billion. ATI makes graphics chips. According to this AP article, the "acquisition would instantly turn AMD into a leading supplier of graphics chips, which render images for computer games and Internet video, and so-called chipsets, which connect a PC's processor to other system components." The deal will intensify the AMD-Intel rivalry, as Intel also supplies graphics chips.
