The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has granted “early termination” of the antitrust review of MACOM’s proposed acquisition of Applied Micro Circuits, indicating that the deal is not viewed as adversely harming competition.

Under the Hart–Scott–Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, certain mergers and acquisitions must be reviewed by the FTC or Department of Justice (DoJ) to ensure the combination will not violate antitrust laws or reduce market competition. Once the companies file the necessary information about the proposed transaction, the government typically has 15 or 30 days to determine whether further investigation is warranted. An early termination reflects that the FTC or DoJ has completed the assessment earlier than the required waiting period and has no objections.

With government approval, MACOM expects the acquisition to close during the first calendar quarter of 2017, after stockholder approval of MACOM’s tender offer to purchase the outstanding common shares of Applied Micro.

On November 21, MACOM and Applied Micro announced the acquisition, where MACOM will pay approximately $770 million for Applied Micro. Applied Micro will expand MACOM’s portfolio for the data center market, including OTN framers, MACsec Ethernet networking components and a single-λ PAM4 platform.

Applied Micro also has a segment focused on computing ICs for data centers. MACOM plans to divest this business following close, as these products are not aligned with MACOM's networking strategy.