Rambus to Acquire Serial Interface Assets of Velio Communications, Inc.; Agreement Expands Offering of High-Speed Signaling Technologies
LOS ALTOS, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Dec. 12, 2003—
Rambus Inc. (Nasdaq:RMBS), a leading developer of
chip-to-chip interface products and services, today announced it has
entered into an agreement with Velio Communications, Inc. to acquire
certain Velio high-speed signaling assets. Rambus plans to integrate
these assets into its RaSer(TM) product line. As part of this
agreement Rambus also acquires the related Velio patent portfolio, the
existing Velio licensing business, and has extended offers of
employment to a number of Velio personnel in its Chapel Hill, North
Carolina and Milpitas, California locations. The purchase price will
not exceed $13 million, with the actual amount subject to certain
closing conditions. It will be paid in cash and the transaction is
expected to close before the end of this year. As a result of the
transaction, Velio will discontinue the licensing of these
technologies and will become a customer of Rambus. Additional
financial and business details will be provided during Rambus's
regularly scheduled earnings conference call in January.
"Rambus is committed to offering our customers the widest possible
range of serial interface solutions to aid in their development of
new, more dynamic and more powerful end-user products," said Kevin
Donnelly, vice president of the Logic Interface Division at Rambus.
"By adding Velio's high-speed signaling technologies to our serial
interface offerings, Rambus is accelerating its ability to deliver
advanced chip-to-chip interface solutions to our customers."
"Velio looks forward to the continued success of our fabless
products and continuing to bring new and innovative product solutions
to our customers," said Mike Ofstedahl, chief executive officer at
Velio. "This agreement with Rambus allows us to reduce our development
costs, focus our resources on excellent product delivery, and continue
to have access to leading-edge interface technology."
The Rambus RaSer(TM) family of interface products includes
application-proven, standard-compatible serial link cells and new
higher performance serial link cells. Together they provide customers
with a range of high-bandwidth, low-cost, low-power solutions that
achieve new levels of flexibility and scalability in computing,
networking, server and storage applications. For more information
visit www.rambus.com/products/raser.
About Rambus Inc.
Rambus is one of the world's leading providers of chip-to-chip
interface products and services. The company's breakthrough technology
and engineering expertise have helped leading chip and system
companies to solve their challenging I/O problems and bring
industry-leading products to market. Rambus's interface solutions can
be found in numerous computing, consumer electronic and networking
products. Additional information about the company is available at
www.rambus.com.
This release contains forward-looking statements under the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding Rambus's plans to
integrate the assets of Velio into its business, its expectation that
Velio will become a customer of Rambus, the timing of the closing of
the transaction and various other matters. Such forward-looking
statements are based on Rambus's current expectations and beliefs.
Actual results may differ materially. Among the reasons which could
cause actual results to differ materially are the possibilities of
unforeseen difficulties in integrating the assets and employees of
Velio into Rambus's business or in closing the transaction. Other
risks and uncertainties relating to Rambus's business are described in
its SEC filings, including its 10-K and 10-Qs.
Contact:
Rambus Inc.
Linda Ashmore, 650-947-5411
Public Relations
lashmore@rambus.com
or
The Hoffman Agency
Ellie O'Rourke, 408-975-3057
eorourke@hoffman.com
