March 2, 2007

  • Sold… again!

    Barely two years after my company was sold to Cypress, we’re being sold again.

    Cypress Announces Sale of Automotive Image Sensor Business to Sensata Technologies

    Posted: March 1st, 2007 12:33 PM PDT

    Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (NYSE:CY) today announced that it has
    entered into a definitive agreement to sell its SMaL Camera
    Technologies, Inc. subsidiary to Sensata Technologies, Inc. The
    transaction is expected to close later this quarter.

    SMaL Camera provides cameras and camera subsystems to automotive
    advanced driver assistance systems for such customers as Bosch and
    Delphi. The company has approximately 25 employees.

    “Cypress acquired SMaL Camera in February 2005 and with it came
    great technology to supplement our image sensor business and achieve a
    stronger position in the market,” said Cliff Drowley, vice president of
    Cypress’s image sensor group. “Our decision to divest the business is
    based on a strategic shift to focus resources onto our custom image
    sensor business. We believe that SMaL Camera’s automotive imaging
    technology will complement Sensata’s existing strengths in automotive
    applications.”

    In my 11-year work career I’ve only changed jobs once, but now I’ll have worked for five companies.  That’s a lot of acquisitions, an average of about once every two years.  So I guess it was right on schedule for another one.

    The previous acquisition was very messy, botched badly on both sides.  About a third of the people left.  I didn’t handle it well myself, threatening to quit and actually handing in a resignation letter.  But then my group manager decided to stay and convinced me to stay on also.  I think I’m glad I stayed, as I later recruited lcshih and then became group manager myself.

    If there’s anything I’ve learned through these acquisitions, it’s that there’s both a lot of danger and a lot of opportunity.  I’ve seen people laid off, and I’ve seen people get big promotions.  Things get shaken up, and it’s a good time to play your cards right and bring on your A-game.  This acquisition seems to be going much more smoothly than the last one, which means less shake-up.  But you never know…

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