--- title: "China's merger list skips Silicon Labs' $231 Texas Instruments buyout, leaving a 4% spread" description: "SAMR cleared eight mergers in its September 21 to October 4 window, a $22 billion US chip deal among them, and published the list on October 15. The file that pays Silicon Labs holders $231 a share stayed off it, and the roughly 4 percent spread is what the wait costs." publisher: "The Inference" section: "Deals" published: 2026-10-16T15:26:46.461Z modified: 2026-10-16T15:26:46.461Z canonical: https://theinference.org/article/china-s-merger-list-skips-silicon-labs-231-texas-instruments-buyout-leaving-a-4-spread language: en keywords: "M&A, Semiconductors, China, Antitrust, Texas Instruments, Silicon Labs" --- # China's merger list skips Silicon Labs' $231 Texas Instruments buyout, leaving a 4% spread > SAMR cleared eight mergers in its September 21 to October 4 window, a $22 billion US chip deal among them, and published the list on October 15. The file that pays Silicon Labs holders $231 a share stayed off it, and the roughly 4 percent spread is what the wait costs. ## Eight clearances, and Silicon Labs is not on the list On October 15, China's State Administration for Market Regulation, the antitrust authority known as SAMR, published its latest clearance list: eight mergers approved unconditionally between September 21 and October 4 [1]. Among them sat [Skyworks Solutions' $22 billion purchase of Qorvo](https://theinference.org/article/china-clears-skyworks-22-billion-qorvo-purchase-ten-days-after-the-deal-closed), a fellow US chipmaker, which closed October 5 [1]. The [Texas Instruments](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/texas-instruments) takeover of [Silicon Labs](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/silicon-labs), the Austin wireless-chip company trading as SLAB on Nasdaq, was not on it. Holders waiting on the $231 close got the same answer they have collected since February: not yet. ## $231 owed, $221.28 traded The contract is plain. Signed February 4, 2026: [$231.00 a share in cash, about $7.5 billion of enterprise value](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1038074/000119312526036712/d62897dex991.htm), no financing contingency, closing guided to the first half of 2027 [2]. The tape read $221.28 on the morning of October 16 [3], and an independent German quote had the shares at EUR 197.50 on October 15, market value $7.4 billion [7]. That leaves $9.72, about 4.2 percent, and every dollar of it is Beijing risk. *Chart: **SLAB's best print of the past year sits $7.50 under TI's $231 offer** Bar chart comparing Texas Instruments' $231 cash offer for Silicon Labs with the stock's 52-week high and its latest close, showing the tape has never reached the offer.* *Per-share USD. Offer per the February 4, 2026, merger announcement filed with the SEC; 52-week high and October 15 close per Google Finance as of October 16, 2026. [2][3]* ## One review closed in May; the other never got a stamp Washington finished in spring. [Silicon Labs' own filing records the Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period expiring at 11:59 p.m. Eastern on May 22, 2026](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1038074/000119312526237879/d467226d8k.htm), with other approvals outstanding [4]. Beijing is the outstanding one. As of June 11, SAMR had yet to formally accept the merger filing [5]. [A September 10 Capitol Forum report](https://seekingalpha.com/news/4641671-silicon-labs-ticks-lower-on-report-texas-instruments-deal-will-go-into-phase-2-in-china), unanswered by both companies, said a phase-2 review was being readied after a Chinese company warned of higher prices and bundling [6]. In that same regulator's September window, eight mergers cleared, one of them a $22 billion US chip deal [1]. ## Patience is priced into the contract The patient read has evidence. SAMR is clearing chip deals unconditionally at speed, phase 2 is procedure more often than veto, and China has conditioned more semiconductor deals than it has blocked [5]. The merger agreement pays Texas Instruments to wait, with a $499 million break fee and an outside date of February 4, 2027, that stretches to February 2028 [5]. The tape's verdict sits in the chart: a year's best print never came within $7.50 of the offer. Nordic Semiconductor, the Norwegian rival, is [already shipping its cheapest radio into the wait](https://theinference.org/article/nordic-semiconductor-targets-silicon-labs-tier-as-texas-instruments-7-5-billion-takeover-waits-on-beijing) [8]. The tell now is the filing stamp: [acceptance should pull the spread to a couple of dollars](https://theinference.org/article/silicon-labs-9-06-spread-to-texas-instruments-now-hinges-on-beijing) [5], and each new SAMR list is a dated reading. Until one carries this deal, 4 percent is the wage of waiting. ## Takeaway SAMR cleared eight mergers in its latest window, Skyworks-Qorvo among them, but not TI's $231-a-share buyout of Silicon Labs. SLAB trades $9.72 under the offer; the filing stamp in Beijing is the catalyst, and until a list carries the deal, 4 percent is the wage of waiting. ## Sources 1. [The Inference, "China clears Skyworks' $22 billion Qorvo purchase ten days after the deal closed", October 15, 2026](https://theinference.org/article/china-clears-skyworks-22-billion-qorvo-purchase-ten-days-after-the-deal-closed) 2. [Texas Instruments and Silicon Labs news release, EX-99.1 to Silicon Labs Form 8-K, SEC, February 4, 2026](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1038074/000119312526036712/d62897dex991.htm) 3. [Google Finance, Silicon Laboratories (SLAB) quote and statistics, October 16, 2026](https://www.google.com/finance/quote/SLAB:NASDAQ) 4. [Silicon Laboratories Form 8-K, event dated May 22, 2026, filed May 26, 2026](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1038074/000119312526237879/d467226d8k.htm) 5. [The Inference, "Silicon Labs' $9.06 spread to Texas Instruments now hinges on Beijing", October 8, 2026](https://theinference.org/article/silicon-labs-9-06-spread-to-texas-instruments-now-hinges-on-beijing) 6. [Seeking Alpha, "Silicon Labs ticks lower on report Texas Instruments deal will go into phase 2 in China", September 10, 2026](https://seekingalpha.com/news/4641671-silicon-labs-ticks-lower-on-report-texas-instruments-deal-will-go-into-phase-2-in-china) 7. [ad-hoc-news.de, "Wall Street Zen upgrades Silicon Laboratories stock to Hold", October 15, 2026](https://www.ad-hoc-news.de/boerse/news/nebenwerte/wall-street-zen-upgrades-silicon-laboratories-stock-to-hold/70329623) 8. [The Inference, "Nordic Semiconductor targets Silicon Labs' tier as Texas Instruments' $7.5 billion takeover waits on Beijing", October 14, 2026](https://theinference.org/article/nordic-semiconductor-targets-silicon-labs-tier-as-texas-instruments-7-5-billion-takeover-waits-on-beijing) --- China's merger list skips Silicon Labs' $231 Texas Instruments buyout, leaving a 4% spread — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/china-s-merger-list-skips-silicon-labs-231-texas-instruments-buyout-leaving-a-4-spread