June 23, 2003 — Infineon Technologies AG, a Munich, Germany, semiconductor firm, is expected to announce today that the major obstacle in its friendly acquisition of Norway’s SensoNor ASA has been overcome.

More than 90 percent of SensoNor’s shareholders approved of the acquisition, according to John McGowan, senior director of marketing for Infineon Technologies North America Corp., who said the deal should take two to three more weeks to finalize. “From Infineon’s standpoint, we have been watching the whole tire pressure monitoring system unfold,” McGowan said. “Frankly speaking, SensoNor was far ahead of Infineon.”

The acquisition, McGowan said, is a win for both companies. SensoNor required the industry connections and muscle of a large firm; Infineon needed the sensor technology developed by the smaller company.

Infineon ranks second worldwide in automotive semiconductor sales and tops the European list, according to Strategy Analytics Inc., a Newton Centre, Mass., technology research and consulting firm. Infineon already supplies RF (radio frequency, or wireless) technology to tier-one automotive suppliers of tire pressure monitoring systems, including Germany’s Beru AG and Siemens AG, McGowan said. He said the firm will sell sensors as well as RF chips and will continue providing components to tier-one auto suppliers who will package and integrate them into entire systems.

Infineon will also integrate SensoNor’s MEMS accelerometers and rollover sensors into its line of safety products, where it already supplies microcontrollers and other components.