Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL), a leader in infrastructure semiconductor solutions, and Inphi Corporation (NASDAQ: IPHI), a leader in high-speed data movement, today announced a definitive agreement, unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies, under which Marvell will acquire Inphi in a cash and stock transaction. In conjunction with the transaction, Marvell intends to reorganize so that the combined company will be domiciled in the United States, creating a U.S. semiconductor powerhouse with an enterprise value of approximately $40 billion.
Inphi has built a leading high-speed data interconnect platform uniquely suited to meet the insatiable demand for increased bandwidth and low power for the cloud data centers and global networks of the future. Inphi’s high-speed electro-optics portfolio provides the connectivity fabric for cloud data centers and wired and wireless carrier networks, just as Marvell’s copper physical layer portfolio does for enterprise and future in-vehicle networks. Combining Marvell’s storage, networking, processor, and security portfolio, with Inphi’s leading electro-optics interconnect platform, will position the combined company for end-to-end technology leadership in data infrastructure. This highly complementary transaction expands Marvell’s addressable market, strengthens customer base, and accelerates Marvell’s leadership in hyperscale cloud data centers and 5G wireless infrastructure.
Today’s machine learning and other data-driven workloads have expanded beyond the confines of the server and now span the entire cloud data center, making the software-defined data center the new computing paradigm. This trend drives hyper-connectivity within the data center, putting electro-optical interconnects at the heart of the cloud architecture. In addition, the need for bandwidth between data centers continues to grow at astounding rates. Combined with explosive Internet traffic growth and the rollout of new ultra-fast 5G wireless networks, the importance of Inphi’s high-speed data interconnect solutions will only accelerate. The combined company will be uniquely positioned to serve the data-driven world, addressing high growth, attractive end markets – cloud datacenter and 5G.
Our combined scale will provide more resources and capabilities to continue to invest and better manage the rapidly ramping process technology costs. The transaction is expected to generate annual run-rate synergies of $125 million to be realized within 18 months after the transaction closes and is expected to become accretive to Marvell’s non-GAAP earnings per share by the end of the first year after the transaction closes.
“Our acquisition of Inphi will fuel Marvell’s leadership in the cloud and extend our 5G position over the next decade,” said Matt Murphy, president and CEO of Marvell. “Inphi’s technologies are at the heart of cloud data center networks and they continue to extend their leadership with innovative new products, including 400G data center interconnect optical modules, which leverage their unique silicon photonics and DSP technologies. We believe that Inphi’s growing presence with cloud customers will also lead to additional opportunities for Marvell’s DPU and ASIC products.”
“Marvell and Inphi share a vision to enable the world’s data infrastructure and we have both transformed our respective businesses to benefit from the strong secular growth expected in the cloud data center and 5G wireless markets” said Ford Tamer, President and CEO of Inphi. “Combining with Marvell significantly increases our scale, accelerates our access to the next generations of process technology, and opens up new opportunities in 5G connectivity.”
Upon closing, Ford Tamer, Inphi’s President and CEO, will join Marvell’s Board of Directors.
