Lantiq acquires Metalink to expand its WLAN 11n technology

Lantiq has announced its second acquisition since becoming an independent company. Lantiq has acquired the wireless LAN-related assets and intellectual property of Metalink Ltd, a leading provider of high-performance wireless communication silicon solutions for streaming high-definition video over the 802.11n standard. The transaction was finalized today and is expected to close by the end of January.

Christian Wolff, Lantiq CEO, said: "Metalink has indeed developed an advanced multi-stream technology that has been very successful in today's video bridging environment and has repeatedly demonstrated outstanding performance and functionality. So soon after completing our first acquisition in the field of home networking, we have now reached another milestone for our company and further expanded and improved our broadband product portfolio."

The transaction price is $16.9 million, including an initial payment of $8.9 million and a balance of up to $8 million based on future performance.

Lantiq also announced the opening of a technical competence center in Yakum, Israel, where a team of approximately 50 experienced engineers will drive innovation. The acquired 802.11n Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) technology can provide flawless HD video streaming over wireless LANs without compromising Quality of Service (QoS) compared to today's traditional WLAN solutions.

Lantiq will integrate the technology into its current and future products. In addition to the reference design, the first integrated circuit products manufactured using 65nm process technology are already sampling and will enter volume production in spring 2010.