博通加入4G芯片战局，37亿美元收购NetLogic

美国博通公司（Broadcom）宣布，已同意斥资37亿美元收购下一代网络半导体供应商NetLogic微系统公司（NetLogic Microsystems），交易预计将于2012年上半年完成。 NetLogic总部位于美国加州圣克拉拉，主营业务包括为4G无线网络提供芯片。博通表示，此次收购有助于扩展其基础设施产品组合，补充入若干新的产品线和技术，包括知识型处理器、多核嵌入式处理器及数字前端处理器。 博通对NetLogic的收购价为每股50美元，比后者周五收盘时股价溢出57%。 该交易目前已获博通、NetLogic两家公司董事会批准，按收购成交惯例有待国内外行业监管部门以及NetLogic股东的批准。 “该交易符合博通股东所有层面上的意图——战略契合、领先技术和财政上扬。”博通公司总裁兼首席执行官斯考特·麦格雷戈（Scott McGregor）表示。 博通还重申了其2011年第三季度的业务预期。该公司预计其收入将为先前业绩指导范围的19亿美元至20亿美元中间水平。同时该公司还预计到第三季度末其持有的现金及现金等价物约为42亿美元，高于第二季度末的38亿美元。 博通成立20年以来进行了多次收购交易。此前博通高管曾在接受记者采访时表示，该公司的收购策略主要基于收购先进技术、领先团队。同时据了解，此次博通收购NetLogic的交易规模为近年来半导体行业少有，略次于去年德州仪器65亿美元收购国家半导体。 本文下一页：EE Times专访博通CTO {pagination} EE Times专访博通CTO Samueli EE Times：你们以前的收购都集中在小公司，这是否标志着收购战略的变化呢？ Samueli：这是迄今为止我们最大的收购，也是我们收购的第一家上市公司，但它不代表在战略上的改变。在过去的5-10年，我们曾经考虑过收购一些上市公司，但从来没有像这次这么认真的去考虑。 你不能做太多的“这种规模的收购”。这填补了我们在高端嵌入式处理器的短板。在未来，当我们积累了足够的竞争资本后，将恢复到原来的“浓缩就是精华”类型。那样会更有趣。 EET：这笔交易背后的故事是什么？ Samueli：我们一直在寻找目标公司，这是一个非常积极主动的过程。在我们的历史上，已经收购了约50家公司，约每季度一个或两个。这些被收购的公司IT，设施，人力资源都已经全部到位。但他们都是50-100人的小公司。 对于三到五年计划，我们一直想进入到高端的嵌入式处理器市场。这是一个我们的产品组合中的短板，而他们恰恰有最佳路线图。 EET：为什么不选择Cavium？他们有那么多的市场份额，市值还比较低。 Samueli：[Cavium]当然是有可能的。我们着眼于公司的长期路线图，包括初始阶段。我们不是为了短期收益，而是人才与产品的长期投资。 我们相信，NetLogic的XLP处理器系列将会是最好的。这是我们对未来的赌注。 XLP的quad-issue, 四线程，无序（out-of-order）核心在行业中是最高性能的核心之一。它在一个芯片中容纳2到20个内核，一块电路板可容纳高达160个内核的可扩展性，对我们非常有吸引力。 此外，他们的基带知识（2009年收购了IDT）可以补强我们的宽带交换机。 EET：NetLogic会改变其设计流程吗？ Samueli：从我们评估看来，它的工具和铸造厂有着很多共性。我不希望任何重大改变。他们有了更多的IP分享和重复使用机会。 EET：你有没有为他们的产品和您的IP库为基础的新的集成产品的计划呢？ Samueli：在短期内暂时没有。他们还会继续其现有的路线图。在中期，有机会混合使用IP，但我们不希望太具破坏性。一旦我们把所有聪明的设计防到一起，他们就会衍生出新产品和有趣的想法。 EET：今天你们和NetLogic在硅谷的第一次会议如何？ Samueli：这是一个积极性很高的会议，大家提出了很多问题。他们好奇我们如何做业务，我们如何围绕一个中心工程团队，去提升我们的设计，要知道我们在世界各地设有68个芯片设计中心。 EET：NetLogic的XLP二代将使用28nm技术。博通现在有正在进行的28nm设计吗？ Samueli：我们有几个开发中的28nm产品。所有中央工程团队现在都在致力于28nm产品，包括模拟和RF。我们的交换机目前都是40nm的，一旦他们他们进入量产，我们所有的设计团队将把重心转移到28nm上。基带和应用处理器也是如此。 我们与代工厂的合作包括：台积电，GLOBALFOUNDRIES和联华电子。台积电处于强势地位（在28nm方面）。目前还不清楚它们将如何进入14nm，而且20nm的双重暴光（double patterning）面临的问题是太昂贵了 。一切都变得困难，因为你要发展到下一个节点。 EET：您对EDA供应商有愿望清单（wish list）吗？ Samueli：很多。在每一代新设计工具中都有很多问题，有些甚至不存在于前一代。由于工具数量增长，我们需要实现工具流程和接口的无缝对接。我们还需要可以处理缩放的工具，因为我们芯片中有接近10亿的晶体管??。 EET：您如何看待有关ARM为基础的服务器，这是否是当今的另一大COMMS基础设施概念？ Samueli：这是一个有趣的市场，ARM和MIPS都有可能去抢占。它与软件生态系统息息相关。如果该软件是存在的，它就不需要那么多的硬件架构。你会看到一些其他架构在未来几年出现，但不是我们现在的重点。 编译：Luffy Liu 本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载 参考英文原文：Broadcom to buy NetLogic for $3.7 billion，by Peter Clarke;B'com's Samueli on NetLogic and more，by Rick Merritt

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{pagination} Broadcom to buy NetLogic for $3.7 billion Peter Clarke LONDON – Communications chip company Broadcom is set to buy NetLogic Microsystems for $3.7 billion net of cash assumed. Under the agreement, shareholders of NetLogic Microsystems Inc. (Santa Clara, Calif.) will receive $50 per share. Broadcom is a market leading fabless chip company with a foundation built on broadband communications. The acquisition extends Broadcom's portfolio in such areas as knowledge-based processors and multi-core embedded processors. The transaction has been approved by the Broadcom (Irvine, Calif.) and NetLogic Microsystems boards of directors and is subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of domestic and foreign regulatory clearances and the approval of NetLogic Microsystems' stockholders. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2012. "This transaction delivers on all fronts for Broadcom's shareholders - strategic fit, leading-edge technology and significant financial upside," said Scott McGregor, Broadcom's president and CEO, in a statement issued by NetLogic. "This is a strong win for customers, for shareholders and for NetLogic Microsystems employees," said Ron Jankov, NetLogic Microsystems' president and CEO, in the same statement. Broadcom said by the end of the third quarter of 2011 it expects to have approximately $4.2 billion in cash and cash equivalents on hand, up from approximately $3.8 billion at the end of the second quarter. B'com's Samueli on NetLogic and more Rick Merritt SAN JOSE – Henry Samueli, chief technology officer of Broadcom, shared his thoughts on the company's $3.7 billion bid to buy NetLogic following his first meeting with NetLogic employees in Silicon Valley. EE Times: Does this mark a change in your acquisition strategy previously focused on small companies? Henry Samueli: This is by far our largest acquisition and our first of a public company, but it's not a change in strategy. We've looked at acquiring numerous public companies in the last 5-10 years, but never got too serious about any of them. You can't do too many [acquisitions of this size]. This fills a huge hole in the high-end embedded processor space for us. For the foreseeable future we'll revert back to smaller, tuck-in type deals as we build up our war chest. There are so many interesting companies out there. EET: What was the story behind this deal? Samueli: We're always looking at companies; it's a very pro-active process. We have acquired about 50 companies in our history, that's about one or two per quarter. We have the process down pat for IT, facilities, HR--it's all in place. But historically it's been smaller 50-100 people companies. For three to five years we have wanted to expand into the high-end embedded processor space. That was a hole in our portfolio, and they had the best road map. EET: Why not Cavium which has more market share and a lower market cap? Samueli: [Cavium] certainly was a possibility. We looked at the long term road maps of all the companies out there, including startups. We are not doing this for short-term gains, but for a long term investment in the people and products. We believe NetLogic's XLP processor line will be the highest performance one out there. We are betting on the future. The XLP's quad-issue, quad-threaded, out-of-order core is one of the most high performance cores in the industry. It's scalability to put two to 20 cores on a chip and 160 on a board was very attractive to us. Also, their knowledge-based processors [acquired from IDT in 2009] complement our broadband switches. And their Optichron acquisition in wireless complements our own recent acquisitions in microwave backhaul and small cells. We are now developing a very significant portfolio in wireless infrastructure. EET: Will NetLogic have to change its design flow? Samueli: From our due diligence, it looks like there's a lot of commonality in tools and foundries. I don’t expect any significant changes. They just have a lot more opportunity in IP sharing and reuse now. EET: Do you have any plans for new integrated products based on their offerings and your IP libraries? Samueli: Not in short term. They will pursue their existing road maps. In the medium term, there are opportunities to mix and match IP, but we don’t want to be too disruptive. Once we put all the smart architects together, they will come up with interesting ideas for new products. EET: How was your first meeting at NetLogic in Silicon Valley today? Samueli: It was an all hands meeting and very positive with great questions. They were curious about how we do business, how we scale up our design infrastructure around a central engineering team to deal with 68 design centers around the world contributing to chip design. EET: NetLogic's XLP II will use 28nm technology. Does Broadcom have many 28nm designs in progress today? Samueli: We have several 28nm products in development. All central engineering is now working on 28nm libraries, including analog and RF. Our switches are 40nm today, and once they are in production the entire design team is off working on next gen which is 28nm. The same is true for basebands and applications processors. We work with all the foundries—TSMC, Globalfoundries and UMC. TSMC is in a strong position [at 28nm]. It's still unclear how they all will implement 14nm, and the whole issue of double patterning at 20nm is expensive--everything gets exponentially more difficult as you move to next node. EET: Any wish list for your EDA vendors? Samueli: Plenty. There are many new tools in each generation to solve problems that didn’t even exist in prior generation. As the number of tools grows, we need help making the tool flows and interfaces seamless. We also need tools that can handle scaling as we approach billion-transistor chips. EET: What do you think about ARM-based servers, another big comms infrastructure concept out there today? Samueli: It's an interesting market that ARM and even MIPS has the potential to address. It's all about the software ecosystem. If the software is there, it doesn’t matter so much about the hardware architecture. You'll see some alternative architectures appear over the next several, but that’s not our focus for now.