Hard disk drive maker Western Digital said it would buy memory chip maker SanDisk for about $19 billion, for a combination of cash and stock.
The offer values SanDisk common stock at $86.50 per share or a total equity value of approximately $19 billion, using a five-day volume weighted average price ending on October 20, 2015 of $79.60 per share of Western Digital common stock.
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SanDisk’s shares rose 6.4 percent to $80 in pre-market trading. Western Digital’s shares were down 1.1 percent at $74.
The value of the SanDisk acquisition will depend on the closing and approval of an investment from a unit of China’s state-backed Tsinghua Holdings, Unisplendour in Western Digital, the companies said on Wednesday.
The deal is expected to close in the third calendar quarter of 2016.
About the founder, Dr. Eli Harari
On October 2014, SanDisk founder Dr. Eli Harari recognized by president Obama with The National Medal of Technology and Innovation, highest honor for revolutionizing the flash storage industry.
Israeli Dr. Eli Harari’s vision for SanDisk and flash memory began more than 26 years ago. Throughout the years flash memory innovations have transformed and enabled new markets and devices from digital photography to USB drives to smart phones, tablets, and thin-and-light notebooks.
“We’re now connected in ways that would not be possible without the technologies that Eli helped pioneer and we’re well positioned to take on new market segments such as enterprise data centers, ” said Sanjay Mehrotra, co-founder, president and chief executive officer of SanDisk. “Eli has had a profound impact on the entire technology landscape, and in doing so, has truly changed the world as we experience it today. His lifelong intellectual and technical achievements are well-deserving of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation.”
However, what distinguished this into a remarkable story is how Dr. Harari continuously played multifaceted roles over a span of 23 years as inventor, entrepreneur, leader, public company CEO, and industry visionary. From a Silicon Valley start-up in 1988, SanDisk now employs more than 8, 000 people worldwide, has over 5, 000 patents and $6.5 billion in annual sales.
READ MORE: SanDisk
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