Tuesday, March 15th 2011

OCZ Technology to Acquire Indilinx Co., Ltd

OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) for computing devices and systems, today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Indilinx Co., Ltd, a privately held fabless provider of flash controller silicon and software for SSDs.

Indilinx is headquartered in South Korea and currently sells its line of flash controllers to SSD manufacturers and Tier One OEMs for use in a broad array of products addressing multiple markets, including embedded and industrial as well as laptops and PCs. Indilinx controllers have been deployed within OCZ's SSD products since December 2008, and are currently featured in the Z-Drive series of PCIe-based SSDs. Indilinx's technology is expected to enable OCZ to expand its presence into the embedded, hybrid storage, and industrial markets.

OCZ will gain substantial intellectual property from Indilinx including approximately 20 patents and patent applications related exclusively to the business as part of the transaction. For example, the acquisition is expected to extend OCZ's capabilities with advanced controller technology including Tinkerbell, a high performance eMMC 4.4 x controller that replaces SSDs in consumer electronic devices such as smartphones, tablet PCs, GPS units, and netbooks. Tinkerbell improves the user experience in consumer mobile devices for applications such as internet browsing, gaming, social networking applications, emails, and multimedia play.

Following its acquisition by OCZ, Indilinx will continue to produce and supply its line of controller products to SSD manufacturers and OEMs on a global basis. The Indilinx controller business, and its 45 employees, will remain intact under the leadership of Bumsoo Kim, the founder and President of Indilinx, and Hyunmo Chung, Indilinx's Chief Technology Officer. OCZ will continue its own R&D program to develop new proprietary technologies and products to expand its own solid state drive offerings.

The Indilinx acquisition notwithstanding, OCZ plans to continue utilizing controllers from other manufacturers including long-term partner SandForce, who currently supplies SSD processors for a wide range of the Company's SSD products including the Vertex 2, Agility 2, RevoDrive, customizable Deneva enterprise drives, and the upcoming Vertex 3 family of SSDs.

"This transaction is an important step in OCZ's strategy and significantly enhances our ability to capitalize on the worldwide demand for Solid State Drives," said Ryan Petersen, CEO of OCZ Technology Group. "This combination brings together two organizations that are committed to advancing solid state drive design, and provides a unique opportunity for OCZ to increase both customer and shareholder value as well as expand our reach into embedded markets."

Under the terms of the agreement, OCZ will acquire Indilinx for approximately $32 million of OCZ common stock. Indilinx shareholders will own approximately 9.5% of the OCZ shares outstanding after issuance of the shares. The transaction has been approved by the board of directors of each company, and is expected to close within 30 days, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. OCZ expects the transaction to become accretive to its earnings per share toward the end of this fiscal year on a non-GAAP basis, excluding acquisition-related expenses, restructuring charges, and amortization of intangibles.

Ryan Petersen, CEO, will be a featured speaker at the Roth Capital 23rd Annual Orange County Growth Stock Conference today at 5:30 pm pacific time. To listen to the presentation and view the accompanying slides, please visit the investor relations events section of OCZ website at www.ocztechnology.com and click on the link provided for the web cast.

Merriman Capital, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Merriman Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq:MERR), served as OCZ's exclusive financial advisor for the transaction.
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12 Comments on OCZ Technology to Acquire Indilinx Co., Ltd

#1
RejZoR
Wouldn't it make more sense o acquire SandForce ? Unless they are too expensive...
Posted on Reply
#2
LAN_deRf_HA
That's what I said. Anand responded with "The reality is that to buy SF would require more money than OCZ is worth at this point. SF is a very interesting acquisition target, but the company wants to go public so any acquisition price will be very high."
Posted on Reply
#3
Mussels
Freshwater Moderator
OCZ is on a roll now.
Posted on Reply
#4
makwy2
OCZ must be getting serious about solidifying and then growing their SSD share. Maybe Seagate and WD should look over their shoulders at the SSD market.
Posted on Reply
#5
RejZoR
LAN_deRf_HAThat's what I said. Anand responded with "The reality is that to buy SF would require more money than OCZ is worth at this point. SF is a very interesting acquisition target, but the company wants to go public so any acquisition price will be very high."
Or this might also mean that we can expect Indilinx controllers to get significantly better, considering they will probably get almost exclusive in OCZ drives. So if they were around mid of the pack now, they might be a direct SandForce competitor. Which might be a good thing as well. If you want high end controller now you pretty much only have SandForce. But this might change now... After all, Indilinx was the first proper controller at release time because it didn't have silly problems like JMicrons and it was fast as well.
Posted on Reply
#6
DanishDevil
Quite a step for OCZ to take. To be honest, they're done very well in the past with RAM, and have done very well recently with SSDs. Good move, IMO. Still won't buy an Indilinx controlled drive until they can compete with Sandforce, though.
Posted on Reply
#7
btarunr
Editor & Senior Moderator
RejZoRWouldn't it make more sense o acquire SandForce ? Unless they are too expensive...
Too expensive. Disturbing SandForce at this juncture will pretty much lead to the collapse of the consumer SSD industry.
Posted on Reply
#8
Thrackan
DanishDevilQuite a step for OCZ to take. To be honest, they're done very well in the past with RAM, and have done very well recently with SSDs. Good move, IMO. Still won't buy an Indilinx controlled drive until they can compete with Sandforce, though.
I would buy Indilinx drives if they can be made for a decent price, with decent storage... OCZ might be going exactly that road: SSD's for the common man.

Still, I won't buy OCZ.
Posted on Reply
#9
RejZoR
A year or two ago i'd prefer Indilinx over JMicron, but at the moment i prefer SandForce over anything else.
Posted on Reply
#10
A Cheese Danish
There have been quite a few companies acquiring other companies recently.
Posted on Reply
#11
sy5tem
A Cheese DanishThere have been quite a few companies acquiring other companies recently.
it always as been like that in the industry :P its a pacman game!

like when quantum sold hard drive "division" to maxtor then seagate baught maxtor LOL
Posted on Reply
#12
A Cheese Danish
sy5temit always as been like that in the industry :P its a pacman game!

like when quantum sold hard drive "division" to maxtor then seagate baught maxtor LOL
Yeah. But I didn't think it was like several companies within the same week.
Oh well lol Shows how much I pay attention :o
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