Thursday, March 19, 2009

Gennum acquires Tundra Semiconductor

Burlington, Ontario and Ottawa, Ontario– March 19, 2009 – Gennum Corporation (TSX: GND ) and Tundra Semiconductor Corporation (TSX: TUN ) today announced they have entered into a definitive agreement providing for the acquisition by Gennum of all of the issued and outstanding shares of Tundra, a supplier of system interconnect products and intellectual property (IP) to the world’s leading communications, computing and storage companies. The transaction, which is valued at approximately Cdn$86 million, adds new digital switch and bridge products and functionality to Gennum and builds on Gennum’s growth strategy of extending its high-speed signal integrity expertise and solutions to a broader set of markets.

The transaction is expected to result in a number of benefits for the combined business, including the following:

  • Added scale and increased market presence in an expanded, US$1.9 billion total addressable market
  • A strongly positioned business in signal integrity, bridges and switches using RapidIO®, VME, SDI and HDMI standards, as well as in PCI Express® (PCIe)
  • Increased global customer base and stronger existing customer penetration with broadened product portfolio
  • Expanded sales and distribution network in key growth regions such as Asia and China
  • Increased research and development capacity to develop more differentiated new products faster
  • Expected cash synergies of approximately US$10 million
  • Based on synergies, expected to be accretive this fiscal year, excluding one-time costs
  • Strong cash position on completion of the transaction
The purchase price payable by Gennum for each Tundra common share will be, at the election of the holder, Cdn$4.43 in cash or 1.1575 common shares of Gennum (“Gennum Shares”) or a combination thereof, subject to pro ration as discussed below. Based on 19,326,053 Tundra current outstanding common shares, in aggregate, a total of $55 million cash and 8.0 million common shares of Gennum will be issued to holders of Tundra common shares. Based on Gennum’s five day volume weighted average share price on the Toronto Stock Exchange ending on March 18, the total consideration values Tundra at Cdn$4.43 per share, a 48% premium to Tundra’s volume weighted average share price on the Toronto Stock Exchange over the same period.