Marvell Technology is reportedly in advanced merger talks with Cavium, the Wall Street Journal wrote, citing sources familiar with the matter. At 3 November, Cavium had a market value of USD 4.6 billion and Marvell one of USD 9 billion. If it does not fall apart, an agreement could be announced within the coming few weeks. As the deal currently stands, Cavium shareholders would receive a modest premium, one of the sources said.
Marvell is based in Bermuda but run from Santa Clara, California. Its chips are used primarily in storage devices, printers and wireless products, and can be found in cars. The company had long been run by husband-and-wife co-founders Sehat Sutardja, who was chairman and chief executive, and Weili Dai, who was president. Last year, Starboard Value took a 6.7 percent stake in Marvell and pushed for the company to cut costs and consider exiting its mobile-devices business. Marvell initiated a restructuring that would eliminate around 900 employees, or about 16 percent of its workforce. It also hired a new CEO to run the company.
Cavium, based in San Jose, California, makes products that are used for networking, data centre and wireless applications.
