Lattice is to buy SiliconBlue, the low-power FPGA company, for $62m in cash.
Lattice ended Q3 2011 with a cash, cash equivalents and short-term marketable securities balance of $267.2m.
"Silicon Blue will further strengthen our product roadmap by adding a scalable, low cost, low power nonvolatile memory FPGA, along with key personnel and blue chip customers," says Lattice CEO Darin Billerbeck.
Kapil Shankar, SiliconBlue’s CEO, will join Lattice as Corporate Vice President of the Mobility Business Unit and will be responsible for the Company’s mobility product lines."
The mobile consumer market for PLDs includes digital cameras, smartphones, eReaders, tablets, notebooks and netbooks. Key market growth trends include the drive for longer battery life, more natural interfaces, increased functionality, lower cost and reduced weight.
"Lattice gives us the global scale, proven market credibility and financial backing to take SiliconBlue to the next phase of its growth," says Shankar, "we think our existing customers will immediately benefit from our new global reach and support. We also expect Lattice’s added resources and financial strength will give potential new customers confidence in designing in our mobileFPGA solutions as we work to more fully realise the potential of our pioneering technology."
Founded in 2006, SiliconBlue makes what it calls Custom Mobile Device (CMD) solutions, with over 250 active end customers and more than 40 patents. The company addresses handset applications, including IP, design services and a new class of ultra-low power, single-chip, CMOS SRAM mobileFPGA devices with patented non-volatile configuration memory (NVCM).
Investors include: BlueRunVentures, Crosslink Capital, NEA, Apex Venture Partners, TSMC and Atlantic Bridge.