Marvell Technology Group Ltd., a leader in infrastructure semiconductor solutions, and Aquantia, Corp., a leader in Multi-Gig Ethernet connectivity, today announced a definitive agreement, approved by the boards of directors of both companies, under which Marvell will acquire all outstanding shares of Aquantia common stock in exchange for consideration of $13.25 per share in cash.
The acquisition of Aquantia complements Marvell’s portfolio of copper and optical physical layer product offerings and extends its position in the Multi-Gig 2.5G/5G/10G Ethernet segments. In particular, Aquantia’s innovative Multi-gig automotive PHYs, coupled with Marvell’s industry-leading gigabit PHY and secure switch products, creates the broadest and most advanced range of high-speed in-car networking solutions in the world. This unique combination accelerates Marvell’s vision for the future of automotive networking with speeds necessary to enable level 4 and 5 autonomous driving.
As the automotive industry increasingly adopts Ethernet in-vehicle networks for mainstream models, the number of related ports is expected to grow dramatically at a 62% annualized growth trajectory, from 53 million in 2018 to 367 million by 2022.
“Our acquisition of Aquantia will fuel Marvell’s leadership in the transformation of the in-car network to high-speed Ethernet over the next decade,” said Matt Murphy, president and CEO of Marvell. “At the same time, Aquantia extends our reach in the rapidly emerging Multi-Gig segment of network infrastructure and creates a leading end-to-end Ethernet connectivity portfolio.”
“Marvell and Aquantia share a vision where the network – whether in an autonomous vehicle, an enterprise application or in cloud infrastructure – can seamlessly power the data economy,” said Faraj Aalaei, chairman and CEO of Aquantia. “This is a fantastic opportunity as our customers will benefit from Marvell’s global scale and expanding footprint in Multi-Gig network applications.”
The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to Marvell’s non-GAAP earnings per share and generate significant annual run-rate synergies of $40 million to be realized within 12 months after the transaction closes.
Transaction Structure and Terms
Under the terms of the definitive agreement, Marvell will pay Aquantia’s stockholders $13.25 per share in cash. This represents approximately $452 million in transaction value after adjusting for net cash on Aquantia’s balance sheet. Marvell intends to finance the transaction with cash on hand and revolver borrowings. The transaction is not subject to any financing condition and is expected to close by the end of CY2019, subject to regulatory approval as well as other customary closing conditions, including the adoption by Aquantia’s stockholders of the merger agreement.
In connection with the execution of the definitive agreement, certain stockholders of Aquantia, together holding approximately 17 percent of the outstanding shares of common stock of Aquantia, have agreed to vote their shares in favor of the transaction under a voting and support agreement.
Marvell Preliminary First Fiscal Quarter 2020 Results
Based on preliminary financial information, Marvell expects its first quarter revenue to be in the range of $650 million+/- 3%, the same range as guided on March 7, 2019. Further information regarding first fiscal quarter results will be released on May 30 at 1:45 p.m. Pacific Time. This update is an estimate, based on information available to management as of the date of this release, and may be subject to further changes upon completion of Marvell’sstandard quarter closing procedures. This update does not present all necessary information for an understanding of Marvell’s financial condition as of May 4, 2019, or its results of operations for the quarter ended May 4, 2019.
