TI sells sensors for $3 billion

today announced the signing of a definitive agreement to sell its Sensors & Controls business to affiliates of

, a global private equity investment firm, for $3.0 billion in cash.

Sensors & Controls, which is headquartered in Attleboro, Massachusetts, supplies engineered sensors and controls to the appliance, climate control, industrial, automotive, lighting, and aircraft markets. With revenue exceeding $1 billion annually, Sensors & Controls has about 5,400 employees in the Americas, Europe and Asia. The sale will not include the radio frequency identification (RFID) systems operations, which will remain part of Texas Instruments.

‘TI will intensify its focus on our high-growth core digital signal processing and analogue semiconductor opportunities, while Sensors & Controls will have greater access to the investment and strategic resources it needs to fuel its future growth,’ said TI President and Chief Executive Officer Rich Templeton.

‘Sensors & Controls is geographically diversified with greater than 50 percent of its sales generated outside North America,” said Steve Zide, a Managing Director at Bain Capital. “We’re enthusiastic about Sensors & Controls’ future, and look forward to supporting the management team’s plan to continue the company’s growth.’

TI’s Board of Directors has approved the sale, which is expected to be completed in the first half of 2006. Completion of the sale is contingent upon customary regulatory approvals.