Irvine, Calif., September 5, 2000 — Intersil Corporation (NASDAQ: ISIL), a leading supplier of communications semiconductors, today announced that it has signed a binding letter of intent (LOI) to acquire Scottsdale, Arizona-based SiCOM, Inc. for approximately 3.7 million shares of Class A common stock. When completed, the acquisition will provide Intersil with a strong position in the rapidly growing broadband wireless access market.
"Our vision is to enable wireless zones of connectivity at home, at work and for people on the go," said Greg Williams, Intersil president and CEO. "Intersil is the global leader today with PRISM® 11 Megabit-per-second (Mbps) wireless LAN solutions that provide wireless connectivity within structures like homes, airports and businesses. Our SiCOM acquisition will enable development of Intersil semiconductors, software and modem reference designs that deliver data at OC3 (155Mbps) and in the near future, OC12 (622Mbps) wireless fiber speeds from the Internet to the enterprise and ultimately to homes. We believe that this acquisition is a synergistic fit for Intersil, bringing our customers closer to a high-data-rate, end-to-end solution for wireless connectivity to broadband content."
SiCOM is a fabless semiconductor manufacturer specializing in broadband modem silicon Application Specific Standard Parts (ASSPs) and board level products for equipment manufacturers serving fixed wireless infrastructure and access markets. SiCOM's highly-integrated modem technology allows equipment manufacturers to develop robust wireless networks with fiber-quality availability (99.999%), higher capacity and lower cost than alternative technologies. SiCOM's technical leadership has helped the company develop very strong relationships with both leading and emerging telecommunications equipment manufacturers. SiCOM's portfolio and technical capabilities add planned IEEE 802.16-compliant products to Intersil’s existing offerings, expanding customer performance options into the >100Mbps range.
"We’re excited to be a part of the Intersil team," said Bob Solem, chairman and CEO of SiCOM. "We feel that SiCOM adds complementary strength to Intersil, which has clearly established itself as a force in high speed wireless networking. Our expertise in high-speed modem design coupled with their strengths in digital radio design, wireless LANs and strong customer relationships provide a solid foundation for future growth. Intersil helped to create the wireless LAN market and, in a very short period of time, shipped over one million 11-megabit radios to communications leaders worldwide. We look forward to being part of Intersil and helping our customers make high quality wireless broadband access a reality."
About Intersil
Irvine, California-based Intersil uses its semiconductor expertise to enable highly integrated voice, data and video communications. Intersil's integrated communications portfolio includes PRISM® Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) chip sets that enable mobile connectivity products for the home and office; analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits for broadband access to wireless and wired Wide Area Networks (WANs); and power management products that enable 24x7 reliability in network servers, next generation PCs and information appliances. For more information about Intersil, visit the company's Internet homepage at www.intersil.com.
About SiCOM, Inc.
SiCOM is a leading provider of modem semiconductors for broadband wireless communications. SiCOM's modems increase capacity, reduce cost, and improve reliability of next generation broadband networks. SiCOM's family of silicon solutions and circuit card products are embedded in leading broadband wireless network products.
Forward-Looking Statements are omitted