Jan 6 (Reuters) - Marvell Technology said on Tuesday it will buy networking equipment provider XConn Technologies in a deal worth about $540 million, as the chipmaker doubles down on data center hardware amid a race to expand artificial intelligence infrastructure.
XConn's acquisition will help the custom AI chipmaker expand its networking portfolio - an essential fixture in AI data centers that helps connect different types of hardware across servers and is instrumental in determining the speed at which
data can be processed.
Marvell's shares rose more than 2% in early trading. Shares of the chipmaker fell more than 23% last year amid stiff competition from larger rivals Broadcom and the world's most valuable firm Nvidia, whose top-of-the-line networking equipment often accompanies its leading AI chips.
Through the cash-and-stock acquisition, Marvell will also add XConn engineers with an expertise in certain networking devices to its team, the company said.
The transaction amount will include about 60% cash, while the remaining stock portion will be valued at Marvell's 20-day volume-weighted average price. The chipmaker, valued at more than $76.52 billion, will issue around 2.5 million shares under the deal.
"This combination creates a compelling switching platform for accelerated infrastructure, advancing Marvell's connectivity strategy for next-generation AI and cloud data centers," said Marvell CEO Matt Murphy.
Switching generally refers to the process of data transfer across the data center.
Marvell expects XConn products to add to its sales and profit in the second half of fiscal year 2027, ramping to about $100 million in revenue in fiscal 2028.
Analysts expect Marvell to record $12.75 billion in revenue in fiscal 2027, according to data compiled by LSEG.
The transaction is expected to close in early 2026.
(Reporting by Arsheeya Bajwa in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo)
