Ramtron Acquires Goal – Power Meter Design Solution
Enhanced
Ramtron International Corporation (NASDAQ:RMTR), a supplier of high-speed
write non-volatile memory chips, announced that it has acquired Goal Semiconductor, Inc., a fabless semiconductor provider
of mixed signal integrated circuits and design services. Ramtron acquired Goal in a transaction estimated at $7.6 million,
which included $2.0 million in cash and $5.6 million in Ramtron common stock.
The acquisition is expected to enable Ramtron to accelerate its
mixed signal product development plans and to further address design solutions for the power meter market. CEO of Ramtron,
Bill Staunton indicated that with the acquisition, the company now can provide almost the entire content for a power meter,
"For example, with our current Processor Companion line of analog and mixed-signal ICs, we can provide about 30% of the silicon
content required for an electronic power meter. By adding Goal products and analog design expertise, we will be able to provide
as much as 70% to 80% of the required silicon content under the Ramtron name."
Mr. Staunton also emphasized that the acquisition would accelerate
the development of high-margin products, "We expect that this acquisition, which is highly complementary to our current product
strategy, will give us a five-year jump on our roadmap for integrated and application-specific product launches. As a result,
we hope to accelerate the development and delivery of high-margin products targeted at the markets that we serve. We believe
that the performance and functionality potential for our integrated and application-specific standard product offerings will
expand significantly as a result of this acquisition.
The acquisition is expected to provide Ramtron a way into the mixed
signal application specific standard products (ASSP) market. Ramtron in the acquisition obtained Goal’s technology
for digital signal processing applications, as well as standard products which included high-voltage digital-to-analog
converters (DAC), a broad line of microcontrollers, analog-digital converters and IP cores, an integral part of Goal’s
mixed signal design service.
Ramtron with the acquisition now has 107 employees, which is up
from 88. Goal Semiconductor is located in Canada and Ramtron in Colorado.
