Limerick spin-out Powervation, which raised $37m from investors including Intel Capital and Semtech, has been acquired by Rohm.
Powervation, an Ireland-based digital power technology developer spun out of University of Limerick, has been acquired by semiconductor company Rohm for $70m in a cash transaction.
Established in 2006, Powervation has developed integrated circuits which enable digital power management for cloud computing, communications and high-performance systems. The circuits also provide significant energy savings of up to 30% compared to analogue products.
The technology is based on research conducted at Limerick’s Circuits and Systems Research Centre since 2001, where it benefitted from research funding from state-owned development agency Enterprise Ireland.
The acquisition turns Powervation into a fully owned subsidiary of Rohm, but the company will maintain its design centre in Ireland as well as its system application centres in the US and in China.
Rohm expects the acquisition to help it gain traction in the cloud, data centre and communications infrastructures markets, as the company has so far focused primarily on the consumer, automotive and industrial sectors.
The company is set to provide further funding for Powervation in order to advance development of its technology, though no details have yet been disclosed.
Powervation had raised $37m in equity funding. The company’s backers include Intel Capital, the corporate venturing arm of semiconductor company Intel, and semiconductor maker Semtech, as well as Enterprise Ireland and venture capital firms Scottish Equity Partners, Venture Tech Alliance, Fourth Level Ventures, and Braemar Energy Ventures.
Business development firm Ares Capital provided $3m in debt financing in December 2014.
Rohm saw a net income of ¥362bn ($3bn) in its financial year ending March 2015, with integrated circuits responsible for 46.8%.
Mike McAuliffe, chief executive of Powervation, said: “The Powervation team is excited to join forces with Rohm, a top 25 global semiconductor company.
“It is simply a great fit – we have built an innovative digital power integrated circuit company to date but the combination with Rohm now presents a compelling opportunity for broad market leadership in digital power management solutions.”
Jun Iida, member of Rohm’s board of directors, added: “The combination of our two companies will enable Rohm to develop industry-leading, integrated digital power solutions to serve a broad range of customers, markets, and applications spanning the entire spectrum from computing and communications to consumer and industrial.”
