Ikanos to Acquire Conexant's Broadband Access Business

Ikanos Communications has agreed to acquire he Broadband Access product line from Conexant Systems for $54 million in cash and the assumption of certain employee and facility related liabilities.


Ikanos and Conexant account for a cumulative 330 million broadband access ports shipped to date. Conexant's Broadband Access product line has traditionally been strong in North America and China while Ikanos has led in Japan, Korea and Europe. The combined company will be well positioned to address the global market for broadband semiconductors, and better serve customers in all geographies. Ikanos will build on its status as the VDSL market share leader, will add substantial ADSL market share, and will have a broad product portfolio that includes SHDSL, 802.11 b/g wireless networking, Ethernet switching, and passive optical networking (PON). In addition, the combined company will have both MIPS- and ARM-based processors that are powering broadband access networks around the world.


The acquisition is expected to more than double Ikanos' revenue, while providing significant leverage in its cost and spending structure. Ikanos also expects that the transaction will be accretive to its non-GAAP earnings per share within the first year after the close of the transaction.


"With the number of home networks doubling to more than 400 million by 2013 according to analysts, there's a substantial opportunity for Ikanos to address the need for delivering bandwidth to and throughout the home," said Michael Gulett, president and CEO of Ikanos. "We'll use our strengthened leadership in broadband access as a platform on which to build new offerings that extend multi-play services seamlessly everywhere they are needed."


In connection with this transaction, Tallwood Venture Capital, a leading investment firm focused on the semiconductor industry, has agreed to purchase 24 million shares of Ikanos common stock for $42 million, or $1.75 per share. Tallwood will also receive warrants to purchase an additional 7.8 million shares of common stock at $1.75 per share. The deal is expected to be completed in the third quarter of calendar year 2009.
http://www.ikanos.com