To: Suresh who wrote (2562 ) 8/14/2000 11:19:11 AM From: pat mudge Respond to of 3951 I was wrong. Newport Communications is not NEWP. And BRCM is not buying Nabisco for its Oreos. :) Here's the full press release: August 14, 2000 08:53 UPDATE 1-Broadcom to buy NewPort for $1.24 bln in stock (adds details, background) NEW YORK, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Communications chip maker Broadcom Corp. on Monday said it would buy optical communications chip maker NewPort Communications Inc. in a stock deal valued at $1.24 billion, extending Broadcom's reach in the fast-growing fiber optic communications market. Irvine, Calif.-based Broadcom said it would issue about 5.5 million Class A common shares in exchange for all of privately held NewPort's preferred and common stock, employee stock options, warrants and other rights. NewPort is also based in Irvine. Broadcom shares closed Friday at 225-1/16 on Nasdaq. In pre-market activity Monday morning, the stock was up 2-3/16 at 227-1/4. The deal, expected to close within 60 days, is the 13th acquisition Broadcom has made since June 1999. The company is striving to become a one-stop supplier of chips and equipment to link computers, phones and televisions over high-speed networks. The deal comes just a week after Broadcom said it would buy Silicon Spice Inc., a developer of semiconductor technology, for about $1.2 billion. A week earlier it had unveiled plans to buy Altima Communications Inc., a maker of networking circuits, for about $533 million. "The acquisition of NewPort Communications ... is not only synergistic with our 10-gigabit ethernet technology but is also complementary to the communications processor technology that we are acquiring through our merger with Silicon Spice Inc.," Broadom President and Chief Executive Officer Henry Nicholas said in a statement. "Together these acquisitions will provide Broadcom with a powerful platform to address the rapidly growing wide area networking marketplace." NewPort's current investors include Cisco Systems Inc. , the world's largest producer of networking gear, and Lucent Technologies Inc. , the world's No. 1 telecommunications equipment maker, Broadcom said. They are also among its largest customers. In connection with the deal, Broadcom said it will record a charge in the third quarter for acquired in-process research and development. <<<<<