Chipmaker Fairchild Semiconductor received on Tuesday an unsolicited buyout proposal that values the company at $2.46 billion, topping an earlier offer made by ON Semiconductor.
The cash offer from a group led by China Resources Holdings of $21.70 per share represents an 11 percent premium to Fairchild's Monday close. Fairchild's shares were trading at $21.12 before the bell.
ON Semiconductor said in November it would buy Fairchild for $2.4 billion, or $20 per share.
Some analysts have said the deal was most likely done to keep Fairchild out of the hands of a competitor, particularly China's Tsinghua Unigroup, which has ambitions of becoming the world's No. 3 chipmaker.
Fairchild did not release China Resource's name on Tuesday as the company that made the unsolicited bid.
A chip industry pioneer, Fairchild has been struggling to boost revenue growth due to slowing demand.
German chipmaker Infineon Technologies was also rumored to be after Fairchild.
Fairchild said its board would consider the unsolicited bid but still supports the agreement with ON Semiconductor.
— CNBC's David Faber contributed to this report.