While investors chattered about Pfizer's $14 billion bid for Medivation on Monday, Jim Cramer was focused on other news.

"I know everyone was playing the 'who's next' game in biotech, but if you want to find the next big takeover target, I think the chip stocks offer a more fertile hunting ground," the "Mad Money" host said.

Instead, Cramer had his eye on the news that Japan's Renesas is considering a bid to buy U.S. semiconductor maker Intersil for $3 billion.

"The true M&A hot spot isn't biotech, it's semiconductors," Cramer said.

It has become common knowledge to Cramer that the semiconductor space is crowded. That was something Avago figured out when it bought Broadcom, and NXP Semiconductor knew when it bought Freescale.

Both deals transformed the companies from being viewed as cellphone suppliers to being primary players in communications and the internet of things. Especially NXP Semi, as it is closely linked to the car industry.

Cramer pointed to Marvell Technology Group, which he noted has now safely moved past accounting issues that plagued its stock. He thinks it could be a logical take-out candidate, and could be bought at a nice premium, even as the stock hit a 52-week high on Monday.

Maxim Integrated Products, the supplier of analog chips to Samsung, also intrigued Cramer. It is a natural buy for a company like Texas Instruments.

Xilinx could also be a good takeover target for any chip company trying to diversify away from cellphone exposure. It is also closely linked to the automobile industry, behind the advanced driver assistance for automobiles and has a large defense exposure.

Finally, while Cramer was hesitant to recommend it because of the current state of its business, he also said Cypress Semiconductor could be a good takeover now that its longtime CEO T.J. Rodgers has moved on.

"To me, a Cypress Semi without Rodgers is a Cypress Semi that could very well be for sale," Cramer said.

While Cramer has always said that he does not recommend stocks on a takeover basis unless the fundamentals are solid, he found that was the case with all of these companies. Not as good as ARM Holdings when it was acquired by Softbank, but better than Linear, Freescale or Broadcom when they were acquired.

"That is why I am giving you permission to speculate on any and all of them. There is just too much takeover activity to ignore these decent-risk, high-reward semiconductor plays; then again, they are only for speculation."

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