Israeli end-to-end connectivity solution provider Mellanox Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq:MLNX) has completed the acquisition of EZchip Semiconductor Ltd. (Nasdaq: EZCH; TASE:EZCH) for $811 million ($606 million net of cash). Both companies are based in Yokneam near Haifa. EZchip provides high-performance processing solutions for carrier and data center networks.
As of today, each outstanding share of EZchip ordinary shares shall be deemed to have been transferred to Mellanox, entitling the holder to receive $25.50 in cash without interest and less any applicable withholding taxes. Following the merger, EZchip shares will be delisted from both Nasdaq and the TASE.
The EZchip acquisition is a further step in Mellanox’s strategy to become the leading broad-line supplier of intelligent interconnect solutions for data centers. The combined company will deliver diverse and robust solutions, enabling customers to meet growing demands of data-intensive applications used in high-performance computing, Web 2.0, cloud, network security, data center, enterprise, telecom, database, financial services and storage environments.
Mellanox president and CEO Eyal waldman said, “As our largest ever acquisition, we are confident the integrated teams of EZchip and Mellanox can deliver future value to our shareholders. We look forward to working together as a combined company building a leading intelligent, end-to-end interconnect, and network processing company. This will enable Mellanox to add intelligence, and application offloads to the interconnect, which is a trend we are seeing in data centers, and expect to take dominant share in this transition.”
J.P. Morgan Securities LLC acted as exclusive financial adviser in the deal, and provided a financing commitment to Mellanox, and Herzog Fox & Neeman and Latham & Watkins LLP acted as Mellanox’s legal counsel.
Mellanox also updated first quarter 2016 guidance, which includes 5-weeks of EZchip contribution. The company sees quarterly revenue of $190 million to $195 million.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 23, 2016
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