This sounds like news to me.
Fore Systems buys Berkeley Networks for $250 million
By Duncan Martell
PALO ALTO, Calif, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Fore Systems Inc., seeking to better compete against larger computer networking
equipment companies such as Cisco Systems Inc., agreed on Tuedsay to buy closely held start-up Berkeley Networks for
about $250 million in stock and cash.
The acquisition, expected to close by the end of September, gives Fore (FORE - news) a line of routers that are designed for computer servers that run Microsoft
Corp.'s NT operating system. Routers, along with switches and hubs, are types of networking gear that shunt data back and forth on networks.
''The NT router is a piece that Fore doesn't have,'' said Michael Cristinziano, an analyst at Gerard Klauer Mattison in New York. Pittsburgh-based Fore's move
also would give it a stronger entree into the fast-growing market for networks that use Windows NT as their operating system.
Fore's strength has been in switches used in ATM, or asynchronous transfer mode, networks, and in local area networks, or LANs. ATM is one of several
standards for packaging and sending data through networks while a LAN is a smaller network used inside universities and companies.
For Berkeley Systems, started little more than two years ago in June 1996, and its 70 employees, the acquisition is a large payday for such a small company,
analysts said.
''That sounds like a lot of money,'' Cristinziano said. ''There is probably going to be some drag on earnings going forward.''
Fore said it it will take a charge for the acquisition of $1.80 a share to $2 a share in its fiscal second quarter ending Sept. 30 for writing off research and
development. It also will set aside a reserve of about 5 cents a share to cover other costs related to the deal.
Fore, with annual sales of $458.4 million and net income of $35.2 million, or 35 cents a diluted share, trails larger networking equipment companies like Cisco
(CSCO - news), Ascend Communications Inc. (ASND - news) and 3Com Corp. (COMS - news) in the quickly growing market for gear that links together
far-flung public and private computer networks.
The acquisition price, based on Fore's closing price on Tuesday of $24.25 a share, includes $30 million in cash if Berkeley hits certain sales and product
development targets.
Fore, the seventh-largest networking equipment company, will issue about 8.475 million shares to pay for the purchase. The transaction also includes options for
607,000 Fore shares to holders of Berkeley Networks shares.
Berkeley Networks And Rambus Inc. Cooperate To Deliver
High-BandWidth Packet Memory Technology
Memory interface technology enables new generation of multi-gigabit
network switches to feature highest-capacity packet buffering
MILPITAS, Calif., Feb. 10, 1998 -- Berkeley Networks and Rambus Inc.,
announced details of their cooperative efforts to deliver
high-performance, high-capacity packet memory technologies for
next-generation multi-gigabit network switches. Berkeley Networks' new
exponeNT family of integrated network services switches uses memory
interface technology from Rambus to provide packet buffering capacity
more than ten times the industry average with support for up to
96-gigabits-per-second I/O bandwidth.
Berkeley Networks' use of this technology enables the exponeNT switch
family, introduced in January, to provide over a megabyte of buffering per
Fast Ethernet port and over ten megabytes of buffering per Gigabit
Ethernet port. This large amount of packet buffering provides significantly
enhanced switch performance in the face of network congestion.
Berkeley Networks' new switches are the first to integrate an
industry-standard (Windows NT) network operating system onto a
high-performance intelligent switching platform. A set of custom ASICs
called eCore, handle all packet switching, processing and forwarding at
wire speed, while network control and management functions are
performed by Windows NT on industry-standard Intel processors. The
eCore ASIC chipset makes extensive use of the Rambus interface
technology and associated RDRAMT memory chips. Berkeley
Networks' highest-end switching platform, the e8, uses 224 Rambusr
Channels running at 600 MHz in a single switch. This provides a
cumulative packet memory bandwidth of over one terabit per second and
448 megabytes of buffer capacity in a single e8 switch.
"The exponeNT family represents an entirely new class of internetworking
switch at the leading edge of system design, made possible in part by
our advanced memory interface technology," said Subodh Toprani, vice
president and general manager of Rambus' Logic Products Division.
"We intend to maintain an ongoing development relationship with
Berkeley Networks that will continue to push the envelope in terms of
memory bandwidth, capacity, and price for multi-gigabit network
switches."
Currently available Rambus technology transfers data at speeds
approaching 700-megabits-per-second per pin. A dual-bank architecture
ensures more than 3.5 Gbps from a single RDRAM device and more than
7.0 Gbps from as few as two devices.
"The choice of memory technology and architecture is one of the most
important design decisions in building high performance network
switches", said Bob Thomas, chief technology officer for Berkeley
Networks. "Through our close working relationship with Rambus, we
have successfully integrated our eCore switching technology and their
channel interface technology, to provide the best price/performance
solution in the industry."
Berkeley Networks, founded in June 1996, is privately held and has
raised $14.6 million in financing. Venture and corporate investors include
SunAmerica, New Enterprise Associates, Information Technology
Ventures and Advanced Technology Ventures, Vantage Point Ventures
and Intel Corporation. The company recently relocated to 1805
McCandless Dr., Milpitas, Calif. 95035, (408) 719-3000, fax (408)
719-3099. For more information visit Berkeley Networks' Web site at
berkeleynet.com.
Rambus Inc. (Nasdaq: RMBS), based in Mountain View, Calif., develops
and licenses high-speed chip-to-chip communications technology that
enables semiconductor memory devices to keep pace with faster
generations of processors and controllers. Providers of Rambus-based
integrated circuits include the world's leading DRAM, ASIC and PC
controller manufacturers. Even while delivering higher performance,
Rambus technology enables low pin-count, high-bandwidth components
to use conventional integrated circuit fab processing, packaging and
printed circuit-board designs; the result is low-cost, compact systems.
Currently, eight of the world's top 10 semiconductor companies license
Rambus technology and seven of the world's top PC makers currently
ship systems using the technology. More information on Rambus Inc. and
its high-bandwidth interface technology is available at
rambus.com. |
