(Telecompaper) Microsemi has emerged as a new bidder to acquire PMC-Sierra, besting an agreed offer from Skyworks for the struggling chipmaker. Microsemi's offer of mostly cash and shares values PMC-Sierra at USD 11.50 per share, a 50 percent premium on its share price prior to the deal with SkyWorks announced less than two weeks ago. This tops Skyworks' agreed offer of USD 10.50 per share, all in cash. Microsemi is offering USD 8.75 in cash and the remainder in its own common shares, valuing PMC-Sierra in total at USD 2.4 billion. The company said the stock element will give PMC-Sierra shareholders the opportunity to benefit also from the longer-term synergies of the merged group. PMC's shareholders would own around 15 percent of the combined company if the deal goes ahead. The other conditions of Microsemi's offer, conveyed in a letter to PMC-Sierra's board, are "substantially the same" as the Skyworks bid, it said.