Why Shares of Vitesse Semiconductor Corp. Are On Fire Today

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of Vitesse Semiconductor , a supplier of integrated circuits used in networking applications, surged on Wednesday after it was announced that Microsemi was acquiring the company. The stock was up 36% by noon, equal to the premium paid my Microsemi.

So what: Microsemi will pay $5.28 per share, or $389 million total, to acquire Vitesse. The combination will create immediate EPS accretion and synergies, according to the press release announcing the acquisition. While Microsemi is profitable on a GAAP basis, Vitesse has been unprofitable in almost every year in the past decade.

Microsemi CEO James J. Peterson had this to say about the deal: "This acquisition is further evidence ofMicrosemi'scontinuing commitment to grow as a communications semiconductor company. Vitesse's highly complementary technology suite will expand our product offering and accelerate growth with differentiated technology in emerging markets, while benefiting from the increased scale, consolidated infrastructure and cost savings of the combined entity."

Now what: The deal is expected to close during the second quarter, and Microsemi expects it to contribute an additional $0.16-$0.20 in per-share earnings by the first full year after close. Microsemi has been extremely acquisitive in recent years, spending a total of nearly $1.5 billion in the past five years on acquisitions, excluding the Vitesse deal. Microsemi stock was up just slightly on Wednesday.

Consolidation of smaller companies is inevitable in the semiconductor business, but investors should be aware that the promised synergies related to acquisitions often aren't realized. Despite all of Microsemi's acquisitions in the past few years, the company's earnings have been declining, and it's very possible that the Vitesse deal will produce similar results.

The article Why Shares of Vitesse Semiconductor Corp. Are On Fire Today originally appeared on Fool.com.

Timothy Green has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.