Infrastructure semiconductor solutions company Marvell Technology plans to acquire networking chip startup Innovium for $1.1 billion. The deal will see the acquisition of Innovium in an all-stock transaction in a bid to bolster its share of the silicon used to power the largest, most complex data centres, Marvell said in a statement on August 3, 2021.
Marvell is expanding by leaps and bounds in the cloud data centre market that got an additional boost with the recent acquisition of Inphi. Developing dedicated high radix, performance optimized switch silicon for use in hyperscale data centres is growing strategic importance.
Marvell CEO Matt Murphy says the market for Ethernet switch chips inside data centres—Innovium’s primary business—could double to $2 billion over the next five years.
“The bulk of that $1 billion to $2 billion growth is all the hyperscale’s, even as regular data centres are going to be kind of flattish but the hyperscale probably grows at 20 per cent a year, maybe 30 per cent a year, so it’s pretty significant,” added Murphy.
Technology Marvell is eyeing for
Innovium makes high performance, innovative switching silicon solutions for Cloud and Edge data centres. Innovium’s TERALYNXTM switching architecture delivers the ultra-low latency, optimized power, high performance, and innovative telemetry that are critical in contemporary cloud-scale data centres. TERALYNX family offers software compatible products ranging from 1Tbps to 25.6Tbps with unmatched telemetry.
The California based chip startup’s products have been selected and validated by market-leading OEM, Cloud, and ODM customers. The company is currently backed by leading venture capital firms including Greylock, WRVI, Capricorn, Premji Invest, BlackRock, DFJ Growth, DAG, Qualcomm Ventures, S-Cubed and Redline.
Adding Inovium’s products to the Marvell portfolio will further increase the breadth of chips its data centre customers. The planned acquisition will allow Marvell to immediately participate in the fastest-growing segment of the switch market with a cloud-optimized solution.
Behind the deal
Marvell said a big U.S. cloud customer had selected Innovium’s chips, which will drive a significant amount of new revenue in calendar 2022. However, the company declined to disclose the name of the customer).
Chip companies have looked to consolidation as the cost of innovation continues to grow. Developing a new chip using the most advanced manufacturing process can now cost more than $500 million.
“The interesting thing about Innovium is what they’ve accomplished as a venture-backed startup. They have created a very competitive set of products and road map that have now gotten traction.”
The company said it expected $150 million of incremental revenue in its next full fiscal year, with the deal expected to close in 2021. Innovium co-founder and chief technology officer Puneet Agarwal will join Marvell after the deal closes, and chief executive Rajiv Khemani will serve as an advisor.
