Dialog Semiconductor Plc, a U.K.-based, German-owned chip maker whose technology powers Apple’s iPhones and iPads, has said it will acquire rival U.S. semiconductor firm Atmel Corp. in a deal valued at $4.6 billion, according to Bloomberg.

Dialog, which also sells chips to Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., and is therefore heavily dependent on the smartphone and tablet industries, said the deal would help it to diversify its client base into industries like the automotive sector and the Internet of Things, especially the network-connected chips used in the Industrial Internet.

The amount of money spent on mergers and acquisitions in the semiconductor industry totalled $31 billion in 2014, Bloomberg reports, and the amount spent this year has already surpassed that. Last May for example, Avago Technologies Ltd. announced it was planning to acquire another chipmaker, Broadcom Corp. in a cash-plus-stock deal worth $37 billion that’s set to complete by March 2016. This consolidation is aimed at carving out a chunk of promising new markets like the automotive and Internet of Things industry to offset the decline in things like PCs and mobile devices.

“By bringing together our technologies, world-class talent and broad distribution channels we will create a new, powerful force in the semiconductor space,” Jalal Bagherli, Dialog’s chief executive, said in a statement.

Other deals in recent months saw Germany-based Infineon Technologies AG acquire U.S. firm International Rectifier for a reported $3 billion last year, while the Netherlands-based NXP Semiconductors agreed to merge with U.S. rival Freescale Semiconductor Inc. in a move that values the combined group at over $40 billion.

According to Dialog’s press statement, the deal will see Atmel’s shareholders receive $4.65 in cash and 0.112 percent of a share in Dialog Semiconductor American Depository shares for each Atmel common share they hold. That amounts to $10.42 per Atmel share based on Dialog’s share price as of September 18, a 43 percent premium on Atmel’s current price of $7.27 per share.

Dialog said the transaction should close by the first quarter of 2016, boosting the company’s earnings in 2017 with annual cost savings of an expected $150 million to result within two years of closing.

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