Semtech and Gennum have entered into a definitive arrangement agreement for Semtech to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Gennum for a total consideration of approximately CDN$500 million (approximately US$494 million). Semtech management believes the acquisition of Gennum will extend Semtech’s portfolio of infrastructure products to the metro, access and enterprise computing markets and will enable Semtech to provide its customers with more platforms to differentiate their own high-speed voice, video and data transmission products.

Gennum designs and sells products that enable video, data and multimedia content to be transmitted at high speed over long distances, while maintaining signal integrity and eliminating the potential for errors in transmission. Its products are used in broadcast, networking, storage, telecommunications and consumer connectivity equipment.

Gennum was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. Gennum has approximately 450 employees, including more than 240 engineers, and has offices in Canada, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the United States. Semtech expects to finance the acquisition through a combination of cash on hand and new bank financing.