August 3, 2006 Sunnyvale, CA -- What began as a potential product development partnership has evolved into an acquisition. Applied Micro Circuits Corp. (AMCC) has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Quake Technologies, Inc. for approximately $69 million in cash, net of the estimated cash and receivables that AMCC expects to assume. The deal, subject to the usual closing conditions and regulatory approvals, should close by the end of this month.
Quake is a privately held fabless semiconductor company based in Ottawa that has had considerable success developing 10-Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) PHY technology for enterprise and data center applications. Speaking in an interview this morning, AMCC's Neil Neslusan, director of marketing, transport products; Subhash Roy, CTO, transport products; and Terak Brahmbhatt, senior analyst, say that when combined with their company's packet processing expertise, Quake's PHY technology will provide them with a combination of existing enterprise and data center 10GbE design wins as well as a path to future expansion in these applications. Concurrently, Quake Vice President of Marketing Mitch Kahn says that his company will enjoy improved sales and marketing muscle as well as a potential pathway to bringing Quake's technology to the telecom space.
The AMCC sources say that the acquisition began as a discussion of a potential partnership aimed at the development of a "next-generation device" in the data center space. The discussion highlighted a shared market vision and potential synergies between the two companies, and the talks shifted toward acquisition.
Quake currently employs approximately 50 people, the majority of whom are based in Kanata, just outside of Ottawa, Canada. The AMCC sources say that most of these employees will retain their jobs after the acquisition. AMCC also has a presence in Kanata, and the two facilities will be combined. Meanwhile, the occupants of Quake's offices in Silicon Valley will move to AMCC's Sunnyvale headquarters. Quake's President and CEO Daniel Trépanier will join AMCC in a strategy role, reporting directly to AMCC President and CEO Kambiz Hooshmand.
-- Stephen Hardy