Maxim Acquires Phyworks, a Leading Supplier of Optical Transceiver Chips for the Broadband Communications Market

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Sep 8, 2010 -- Maxim Integrated Products, Inc.announced today that it has acquired privately held Phyworks Ltd. for approximately $72.5 million in cash.

Maxim CEO Tunc Doluca remarked: "Business and consumer appetite for access to information anywhere, anytime, will continue to grow exponentially. The backbone to support the increased data traffic is high-speed optical networks. Additionally, optical networks are now beginning to reach consumers directly with fiber to the home. The addition of Phyworks' product portfolio and talent to Maxim strengthens our market position to capitalize on this growth."

Acquisition Highlights:

The acquisition is synergistic to Maxim's optical transceiver product line and opens up new high-speed product opportunities.
- The combination of the two companies will provide a broad and powerful set of solutions for customers.
- Phyworks' products for fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) applications complement Maxim's datacom and telecom portfolio.
- Maxim and Phyworks combined will have market share leadership for transceiver chips for optical modules.
- Phyworks' know-how opens up additional high-speed signal integrity product opportunities for Maxim.
Phyworks has been successful in the Optical Infrastructure market.
- An outstanding engineering organization has achieved fast new product time-to-market.
- Leadership in bringing highly integrated products to the market has enabled module makers to produce very cost effective solutions.
Going forward, Maxim's brand name will strengthen customer traction.
The high-speed market presents a large growth opportunity.
- This growth is driven by huge demand for data rich applications (high-definition video distribution and cloud computing)
- Served market for optical transceivers and high-speed signal integrity products is estimated to be $340 million in 2014
The acquisition is immediately accretive.
- Phyworks' gross margin is better than the Maxim average.
- With synergies, the acquired operating margin is better than Maxim's excluding acquisition-related charges and amortization.

"Phyworks is very pleased to be joining Maxim," said Stephen King, President and CEO of Phyworks. "As the optical communications markets continues to evolve, technologies from both companies can be combined to create higher performance, lower cost solutions that will enable end users to build next generation optical networks. Maxim is the ideal partner for our customers and for our employees, and this combination strengthens Maxim's position as a leader in the markets we share."

RBC Capital Markets Corporation acted as financial advisor to Phyworks in connection with the transaction.

About Maxim

Maxim Integrated Products is a publicly traded company that designs, manufactures, and sells high-performance semiconductor products. The Company was founded over 27 years ago with the mission to deliver innovative analog and mixed-signal engineering solutions that add value to its customers' products. To date, it has developed over 6400 products serving the industrial, communications, consumer, and computing markets.

Maxim reported revenue of approximately $2.0 billion for fiscal 2010. A Fortune 1000 company, Maxim is included in the Nasdaq 100, the Russell 1000, and the MSCI USA indices. For more information, go to www.maxim-ic.com.

About Phyworks

Phyworks Ltd., a privately held company founded in 2001 and based in Bristol, UK, is a developer of high-speed communications chips designed to significantly cut the cost of 10 Gbps and below copper and optical interconnects. Its primary investors are Add Partners, Advent Venture Partners, Atlas Ventures, and DFJ Esprit.

The company sells its products into telecom - specifically FTTH - and datacom markets worldwide. Phyworks has a substantial presence in the PON market, with customers in the U.S. and Asia, including China, Korea and Japan. For more information, go to www.phyworks-ic.com.