Broadcom Pays $80 Million For Sandburst

LONDON — Broadcom Corp. is buying, for $80 million, mainly in cash, privately owned fabless chip company Sandburst, which specializes in chip sets for Ethernet and IP switches.

Investors in the Andover, Mass.- based company included Intel Capital, as well as venture capital groups 3i US, Investor Growth Capital and Graylock. As of last February, Sandbust had raised $75 million in funding through several rounds of financing.

Sandburst was one of the first chip designers to demonstrate scalable packet switching and routing SoCs that are now widely used in enterprise core and metropolitan Ethernet networks.

The group will become part of Broadcom’s Network Switching Business Unit once the deal is closed, expected to be during Broadcom's first fiscal quarter ending March 31. Broadcom said it may record a one-time charge for purchased in-process research and development expenses related to the acquisition in its first fiscal quarter. The amount of that charge, if any, has not been determined.

"Sandburst has an impressive customer base and a world-class design team that is well-respected in the industry," said Martin Lund, Vice President and General Manager of Broadcom's Network Switching Business Unit, in a statement. "By combining our industry-leading StrataXGS III Ethernet switch silicon solutions with Sandburst's innovative technology and engineering talent, Broadcom will be able to offer a complete portfolio of end-to-end Ethernet switch solutions."Vince Graziani, Sandburst president and CEO, said that Broadcom offers an ideal complement to his company’s HiBeam range of chip sets for Ethernet switching.