Multi-Year $60 Million Strategic Alliance Also Calls for Virage Logic to Serve as NXP’s Trusted IP Partner
FREMONT, Calif. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — November 17, 2009 — Virage Logic Corporation (NASDAQ: VIRL), the semiconductor industry’s trusted IP partner, today announced it has completed the acquisition of NXP’s horizontal advanced CMOS intellectual property (IP) rights and certain engineering talent and equipment. As part of the acquisition, approximately 150 former NXP employees and the assets associated with selected NXP advanced CMOS libraries, IP blocks and SoC infrastructure along with other classes of semiconductor IP, including approximately 25 associated patent families, are now part of Virage Logic. The strategic alliance between the two companies also includes a multi-year, $60 million licensing and IP development relationship that further executes on NXP’s strategic vision to achieve leadership in high performance mixed signal and enables them to significantly reduce costs without compromising design capability.
“This acquisition and strategic alliance underscore the fundamental shift we are seeing in the global semiconductor industry and that is to focus on core competencies and engage with trusted partners for the non-differentiating elements of a company’s business,” said Dr. Alex Shubat, president, CEO and co-founder of Virage Logic. “Virage Logic was founded on this vision over a decade ago and today over 400 customers rely on our extensive semiconductor IP portfolio to provide the critical building blocks for their SoC designs as they develop their next generation products.”
Dr. Shubat continued, “Over the last two years, we have been aggressively executing on our strategic initiative to broaden our IP product portfolio through both organic and inorganic growth. Our recent acquisition of ARC International and today’s announcement with NXP are a testament to the strong progress we have made in establishing ourselves as a broad line, trusted IP provider. We look forward to the key contributions the talented NXP technologists bring to Virage Logic as we further expand our IP portfolio.”
Virage Logic will establish an R&D center in Eindhoven to develop new products based on the acquired advanced CMOS I/O, analog mixed signal and System-on-Chip (SoC) infrastructure IP and to provide on-going support to NXP. These new products, expected to be commercially available in early 2011, will expand upon Virage Logic’s already extensive product offering that includes processor solutions, interface IP solutions, embedded SRAMs and NVMs, embedded memory test and repair, logic libraries, and memory development software.
In consideration for the assets, NXP received 2.5 million shares of Virage Logic common stock, which are subject to transfer restrictions, and will receive a share of the future revenue generated by Virage Logic from licensing the transferred IP portfolio. Virage Logic expects the transaction to be accretive in the company’s fourth fiscal quarter of 2010.
About Virage Logic
Virage Logic is a leading provider of both functional and physical semiconductor intellectual property (IP) for the design of complex integrated circuits. The company's highly differentiated product portfolio includes processor solutions, interface IP solutions, embedded SRAMs and NVMs, embedded memory test and repair, logic libraries, and memory development software. As the industry's trusted semiconductor IP partner, more than 400 foundry, IDM and fabless customers rely on Virage Logic to achieve higher performance, lower power, higher density and optimal yield, as well as shorten time-to-market and time-to-volume. For further information, visit http://www.viragelogic.com.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:
Any statements in this press release about Virage Logic’s
expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions or future events
or performance, including with respect to the asset acquisition from
NXP, and any assumptions underlying such statements, are not historical
facts and are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These
statements are often, but not always, made through the use of words such
as “believe,” “will,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “intend,”
“plan,” “would,” “guarantee” and “enable.” Forward-looking
statements also include statements concerning the plans and objectives
of Virage Logic’s management for future operations, including plans or
objectives relating to its products or services and the assets being
acquired from NXP and NXP employees to be hired by Virage Logic,
statements regarding the timing or completion of the asset acquisition,
statements regarding the timing of product releases and the potential
for the acquisition to be accretive, and the assumptions underlying or
relating to all such statements. Actual results could differ
materially from those predicted by these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements are not guarantees of performance. They involve known
and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions that may cause actual
results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to differ
materially from those expressed or implied. Some of these risks,
uncertainties and assumptions include, but are not limited to, (1) the
outcome of any legal proceedings instituted against Virage Logic, NXP
and others in connection with the NXP asset acquisition; (2) the amounts
of the costs, fees, expenses, charges and liabilities relating to the
NXP asset acquisition; (3) the effects of war, terrorism or catastrophic
events; (4) stock price, currency exchange rate and interest rate
volatility; (5) the failure of Virage Logic to successfully integrate
the assets acquired from NXP and former NXP employees hired by Virage
Logic with Virage Logic’s own operations; and (6) the failure of Virage
Logic to achieve the cost savings and other synergies it expects to
realize from the NXP asset acquisition.
