News July 20, 10:34 Eastern Time
CONEXANT SYSTEMS: Conexant to accelerate development of high-speed optical networking products with acquisition of novanet; Acquisition will speed development of high-speed physical-layer solutions for optical networks powering the Internet infrastru
JUL 20, 2000, M2 Communications - Conexant Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CNXT),
announced today that it has agreed to acquire privately held Novanet
Semiconductor, a fabless designer of high-speed physical layer networking
solutions located in Ra'anana, Israel, near Tel Aviv. The stock transaction will
enable Conexant to speed the development of high-speed devices in its
optical-networking portfolio, particularly OC-48 (2.4 Gbps) solutions that
support the worldwide synchronous optical network (SONET) and synchronous
digital hierarchy (SDH) standards.
The Novanet acquisition is one of two that Conexant is announcing today for its
Network Access Division. The company also announced it is acquiring NetPlane
Systems of Dedham, Mass. (see accompanying news release).
SONET is the key underpinning of metropolitan and long-distance optical
networks, the majority of which are migrating to OC-48 data rates. Novanet
develops SONET/SDH-compatible physical layer interface devices such as framers,
mappers and multiplexers with embedded clock and data recovery (CDR) units.
These products are manufactured with the widely used and power-efficient
complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process.
Novanet's team of experienced SONET design specialists is developing integrated,
multichannel solutions that will include each of these functions in single
highly integrated chips at various SONET speeds.
Framing and multiplexing devices perform all of the tasks associated with
organising and identifying data packets that are transported over the physical
medium within the high-speed optical core of the rapidly expanding Internet
infrastructure.
"Novanet brings to Conexant a team of mixed-signal and digital VLSI designers
that will significantly accelerate our development of OC-48 framing,
multiplexing and transceiver solutions," said Raouf Halim, senior vice president
and general manager for Conexant's Network Access Division.
"This addition also complements our recent acquisition of HotRail' Inc., which
specialises in high-speed switch fabric and backplane channel technology, and
our earlier acquisitions of Microcosm, an optical transceiver supplier, and
Maker Communications, a leading provider of network processors and software.
With these acquisitions, Conexant will be the first vendor capable of providing
a complete fibre-to-switch silicon solution for packet and cell processing
equipment such as Internet Protocol (IP) routers, asynchronous transfer mode
(ATM) switches, and the new generation of metropolitan, multiservice optical
network elements."
Novanet is scheduled to release an OC-48 framer with integrated CDR during the
first calendar quarter of 2001. Novanet is also currently sampling a quad OC-3
integrated framer/CDR device, which, in addition to upcoming solutions for
OC-48, OC-192 (10 Gbps) and beyond, will strengthen Conexant's OptiPHY framing
and multiplexing portfolio. These solutions perform critical tasks related to
combining low-speed circuits into higher-speed circuits. The OptiPHY product
family allows carriers to transport significantly higher volumes of data traffic
using the SONET transmission standard, which translates into the ability to
handle higher volumes of ever-increasing Internet traffic.
"We are pleased to be joining the Conexant team," said Elkana Ben-Sinai, chief
operating officer of Novanet. "Our engineers will help Conexant accelerate the
development of one of the most complete offerings for multi-terabit routers, ATM
and IP switches, gigabit Ethernet switches and optical networking equipment."
Novanet will become part of Conexant's Network Access Division. Elkana Ben-Sinai
will manage the new Conexant entity and report directly to Raouf Halim. All of
Novanet's employees are expected to remain with the company, operating from
Novanet's existing facility near Tel Aviv, which houses a fully equipped ISO
9001 certified development centre. Novanet enhances Conexant's substantial
presence in Israel, where the Network Access Division already maintains a design
center located in Herzelia.
Conexant will acquire Novanet in a stock transaction for 2.4 million shares of
Conexant stock. At Conexant's closing stock price yesterday, the transaction is
valued at approximately $120 million, plus certain payments up to $35 million
dollars subject to meeting future performance targets.
The transaction has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies
and is scheduled to close within 45 days, subject to obtaining a tax ruling in
Israel and to customary closing conditions.
About Novanet
Founded in 1998, Novanet Semiconductor is a fabless innovator of high-speed
physical layer (PHY) solutions for the Internet infrastructure and
telecommunications markets. These high-speed, multi-port digital integrated
circuits (IC) supply adaptive PHY solutions that are critical connecting links
in a broad range of networking applications. Novanet ICs are based on digital
CMOS technology. Novanet's corporate headquarters, located in Ra'anana, Israel,
houses a fully equipped ISO 9001 certified development centre.
About Conexant Systems
With a revenue run-rate of approximately $2 billion per year, Conexant is the
world's largest independent company focused exclusively on providing
semiconductor solutions for communications electronics. With more than 30 years
of experience in developing communications technology, the company draws upon
its expertise in mixed-signal processing to deliver integrated systems and
semiconductor products for a broad range of communications applications. These
products facilitate communications worldwide through wireline voice and data
communications networks, cordless and cellular wireless telephony systems,
personal imaging devices and equipment, and emerging cable and wireless
broadband communications networks. The company aligns its business into five
product platforms: Network Access, Wireless Communications, Digital
Infotainment, Personal Imaging, and Personal Computing. Conexant is a member of
the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 Indices. |
