Infineon acquires switch-chip maker Ardent for $42 million

Infineon acquires switch-chip maker Ardent for $42 million
MUNICH, Germany - Infineon Technologies AG here today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Ardent Technologies Inc., a supplier of chips for local-area networking applications, for $42 million.

With the acquisition of Ardent, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., Infineon gains an entry in the switch-chip market. Ardent, a two-year-old company started by former executives of I-Cube Inc., last summer rolled out its first product-a line of switching silicon for Layer 2 applications in 10/100/1000-Mbits networks.

The move puts Infineon in the competitive switch-chip market against some significant competitors, including the likes of Broadcom, Intel, Galileo Technology, and a slew of Taiwanese suppliers.

"The acquisition of Ardent emphasizes Infineon's goal to strengthen its communications expertise," said Ulrich Schumacher, president and chief executive of Infineon. "This move follows our strategy to complement our portfolio with the know how and intellectual property of highly specialized design companies in fast growing market segments," Schumacher added.

"We can leverage Infineon's complementary technologies, leading-edge manufacturing capability and process expertise, and worldwide distribution infrastructure to better serve our customers," said Daniel Wong, chairman and chief executive of Ardent.

Under the terms of the deal, Wong will become president of a new subsidiary of Infineon called Infineon Technologies Ardent Inc. The new subsidiary will develop higher-end products, reportedly including chips for Layer 3 applications in Ethernet-based networks, analysts said.

The switch-chip market is exploding. According to Dataquest Inc. of San Jose, the market for switches in local area networks is growing at a rate of 24% a year and will reach over 181 million ports by 2003.