onsemi in Talks to Buy Ferric for About $1 Billion Amid AI Power Race
Key Facts
onsemi has discussed acquiring chip startup Ferric for about $1 billion, according to people familiar with the matter cited by The Information on October 28, 2026. Neither company has announced an agreement, and the report said talks are ongoing and their terms could change or collapse. The structure of a potential deal was unclear, as it could include payments to Ferric tied to meeting performance targets. The report said an agreement could be reached in the days after its publication, without implying that negotiations had been concluded. Ferric declined to comment, while an onsemi spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
Ferric develops integrated voltage regulators that combine the controller, inductors, transistors and capacitors in a single component, according to the company’s description of its products. The technology targets high-performance computing applications, where current is delivered to processors through shorter paths. Ferric says shortening power paths helps reduce losses and improve transient response, two factors in designing systems that require substantial power. The company’s Fe1766 product demonstrates its capabilities in this area. The regulator has 16 phases, a TDC current of 160 amps, an area of 35.5 mm² and a current density of 4.5 amps/mm².
Ferric announced the launch of Fe1766 on August 25, 2025, saying it delivers 160 amps from 35.5 mm² of silicon area. The potential deal would place this technology within a wave of investment in power-delivery components needed to expand AI computing. On May 19, 2026, Analog Devices announced a definitive agreement to acquire Empower Semiconductor for $1.5 billion in cash. Analog Devices said that “power density, not total watts alone, has become the limiting factor” as AI computing expands. This competition highlights the importance of delivering more power within limited space near processing units.
In September, onsemi said it sees a total addressable market opportunity of $213 billion by 2030, spanning automotive, industrial, AI data centers and emerging applications. The company linked its strategy to the power constraints facing AI, electrification and automation. Its chief executive described power density as “one of the defining engineering challenges of this decade.” The company also unveiled its Embedded Power Platform on September 16 for power integration in applications including AI data centers, saying power density could reach 3–5 times that of current solutions. On the same day, it announced that Subaru would evaluate the platform as part of a technical collaboration targeting future electric-vehicle architectures, extending its stated applications beyond data centers.
AI data center business is growing rapidly within onsemi’s operations. The company reported revenue of $1.604 billion in the second quarter of 2026, up 9% year over year. onsemi said its AI data center business is its fastest-growing activity and that it expects revenue from the business to more than double in 2026. In its third-quarter guidance, the company forecast revenue of between $1.65 billion and $1.75 billion, and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of between $0.81 and $0.93. These indicators place the Ferric talks in the context of the company’s expansion in power technologies, without onsemi publicly assigning a specific objective to the potential deal.
onsemi is also pursuing a separate agreement to acquire Synaptics. The companies amended the agreement on October 1 to $123 in cash per share, for a total value of about $5.7 billion, compared with about $7 billion under the previous agreement. onsemi said the deal is expected to close by mid-2027, subject to customary approvals and conditions, including regulatory review. That agreement remains separate from the Ferric talks reported by The Information. The next official date for investors is onsemi’s third-quarter earnings announcement, for the quarter that ended on October 2, after the market closes on Monday, November 2, 2026, with the company’s investor call scheduled for 5 p.m. Eastern time.