Chiplet opportunity prompts Alphawave to buy SiFive design arm for $210 million
Alphawave IP Group plc (London, England), the SerDes developer that staged a London IPO in 2021, has agreed to buy the OpenFive business unit from SiFive for $210 million in cash.
SiFive is the commercial company based on the RISC-V instruction set architecture and OpenFive has been a developer of IP cores and full chip design services aimed at high performance interconnect AI processing around RISC-V. It has built up a track record in leading-edge FinFET design methodology.
The deal has been agreed by both companies and is expected to close in 2H22 pending customary regulatory approvals.
OpenFive brings
OpenFive brings a high-speed connectivity system-on-chip (SoC) IP portfolio and a team based in India and Silicon Valley that has been delivering custom silicon solutions for over 15 years. Alphawave will be acquiring a 300-plus person team, primarily in India. The acquisition will increase Alphawave’s number of connectivity-focused IPs from 80 to over 155 and its customer base from 20 to 75.
The move will enable Alphawave to offer at 5nm, 4nm, 3nm and will support chiplet delivery. Alphawave has also licensed RISC-V processor IPs from SiFive as part of the transaction.
Alphawave forecasts that the combined will have annual revenue of US$325 million to US$360 million in the 2023 financial year and $500 million in 2024.
John Lofton Holt, executive chairman of Alphawave stated: “When we completed our IPO in 2021, we committed to continuing to grow and accelerate our business by deploying the capital we raised. This began with the acquisition of Precise-ITC in 2021, and the addition of the OpenFive team will further accelerate Alphawave’s business. Alphawave can now deliver bundled connectivity-focused IP solutions and custom silicon solutions like chiplets to global customers. This will enable a scale and top-line growth that we envisioned, but much faster than we expected, while continuing to deliver high growth and profit margins for years to come.”
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