Synopsys back on the acquisition trail

Synopsys is set to expand its successful DesignWare portfolio of standards-based IP following the announcement of two acquisitions.

Synopsys is set to expand its successful DesignWare portfolio of standards-based IP following the announcement of two acquisitions.

The acquisitions of MoSys and Accelerant Networks will help Synopsys deliver the comprehensive on-chip building blocks designers need to build the complex SoCs used in today's consumer product, storage and network infrastructure markets.

Synopsys is to acquire MoSys in a cash and stock transaction valued at approximately $432 million (approximately $346 million net of cash).

The acquisition is expected to close before the end of May 2004.

The terms of the Accelerant Networks acquisition have not been disclosed.

"As SoC complexity continues to increase, larger and larger parts of the chip will be delivered as predesigned, preverified IP blocks", said Aart de Geus, Chairman and CEO of Synopsys.

"Synopsys' acquisition of MoSys and Accelerant will expand our IP portfolio to provide a comprehensive offering of standards-based IP, chip infrastructure IP and embedded memory IP.

This important step puts us at the forefront of the market in helping to deliver the integrated solutions our customers need to reduce their manufacturing risk and lower the cost of design for high-performance chips".

The amount of embedded memory used on a chip is expected to continue to grow dramatically in the next few years, from consuming more than 50% of the die area today to 70% by 2005, and up to 90% by 2011.

This strong growth is being driven by an increase in the development of integrated applications such as consumer electronics that combine voice, data and multimedia on one SoC.

Adding MoSys' unique, patented 1T-SRAM technology to Synopsys' DesignWare IP portfolio will provide Synopsys customers with memory IP that works with regular digital processes to offer a combination of high density, low power consumption, high speed and low cost that other available memory technologies do not match.

"MoSys and Synopsys share a common goal of making it as easy as possible for engineers to adopt and use IP so that they can focus on their value-added technology", said Fu-Chieh Hsu, President, CEO and Chairman of the Board for MoSys.

"Through this acquisition, all SoC designers will be able to readily take advantage of our patented embedded memory technologies that deliver substantial benefits in density, power, cost and performance for their end products".

The acquisition will be effected by means of an exchange offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of MoSys for a purchase price of $13.50 per share, half of which is payable in Synopsys common stock and half in cash.

Synopsys has the option, exercisable not less than two business days before expiration of the offer, to pay the entire purchase price in cash.

The acquisition is subject to certain conditions, including the tender of a specified number of the shares of MoSys, receipt of regulatory approvals, and other customary conditions.

Synopsys intends to assume all outstanding MoSys stock options in the transaction.

The boards of directors of both companies have approved the transaction.

In addition, certain of MoSys' shareholders, including its executive officers and directors, who collectively own approximately 29% of the outstanding shares of MoSys, have agreed to tender their shares to Synopsys in the transaction.

Accelerant's intelligent high-speed 6.25Gbit/s CMOS transceivers enable up to a ten-fold increase in datarates on the installed copper backplanes and cable systems used in today's server, storage, enterprise and network transport applications.

Synopsys intends to apply Accelerant's unique, proven serdes technology to offer multiple standards-based PHY cores such as PCI Express, Serial ATA (SATA), and emerging 6.25 to 10Gbit/s backplane applications that utilise Accelerant's leadership in both binary and PAM4 (pulse amplitude modulation) signalling.

By combining these serdes-based cores with Synopsys' complementary digital cores, Synopsys will be able to offer customers low-risk, integrated analogue and digital IP solutions.

"Accelerant's underlying technology for high-speed serial interfaces is complementary with Synopsys' digital logic cores", said Ken Molitor, President and CEO of Accelerant.

"Through this acquisition, Accelerant's technology will be available to the broad range of ASIC, FPGA and discrete silicon suppliers that system vendors require for their high-volume cost-effective applications.

The security of integrated high-performance solutions from a trusted full-line provider like Synopsys also helps reinforce standards-based applications that can benefit from our technology".

"TSMC has long held collaborative relationships with Synopsys and MoSys", said Dr Genda Hu, Vice President, Marketing, TSMC.

"This acquisition will further strengthen that relationship and benefit our mutual customers going forward".

Back to top