Marvell Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRVL) experienced a notable increase in its stock value on Tuesday after declaring an agreement to acquire XConn Technologies, a company specializing in advanced switching silicon solutions. This strategic purchase is positioned to reinforce Marvell's footprint in the evolving artificial intelligence (AI) and data center connectivity landscape.
The acquisition agreement encompasses the integration of XConn's expertise in cutting-edge Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) and Compute Express Link (CXL) switch products. By assimilating these technologies, Marvell aims to broaden its existing Ultra Accelerator Link (UAL) switch product range and incorporate a seasoned engineering team adept in switch design.
Transaction Structure
The financial terms of the deal are estimated at approximately $540 million, which will be settled through a combination of cash and Marvell stock issuance. The payment composition is structured with about 60% being cash and 40% allocated in stock, leveraging Marvell's 20-day volume-weighted average price (VWAP) to determine share valuation. This translates to roughly 2.5 million shares of Marvell being issued as part of the purchase price.
Marvell anticipates finalizing the acquisition early in fiscal year 2026, contingent upon receiving customary regulatory approvals and satisfying typical closing conditions.
Implications for AI Data Center Connectivity
The acquisition is poised to address challenges arising from the scaling of AI workloads, which are increasingly pushing data centers to transition beyond traditional isolated rack configurations toward interconnected multi-rack systems. These contemporary architectures necessitate enhanced bandwidth capabilities and ultra-low latency communication channels among extensive arrays of computing accelerators.
The UALink technology, an open-standard protocol supported in this endeavor, builds upon advancements within the PCIe ecosystem and endeavors to facilitate scale-up connectivity across large groups of accelerator devices, meeting next-generation performance and reach requirements in data centers.
Matt Murphy, Marvell's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, underscored that this acquisition deepens the company’s strategic approach to meeting the connectivity demands in AI and cloud-centric data centers. Moreover, Murphy noted that XConn's capabilities complement Marvell's pending acquisition of Celestial AI, further enhancing its position in this emergent sector.
Gerry Fan, Chief Executive Officer of XConn, echoed this sentiment, emphasizing a shared vision between the two companies that high-speed, robust connectivity is fundamental to the architecture of modern data centers.
Product Development and Financial Outlook
XConn currently offers PCIe 5.0 and CXL 2.0 switch products that are already in production. Its forthcoming PCIe 6.0 and CXL 3.1 switches are presently in the sampling phase with customers, indicating progress toward market readiness.
Marvell expects that revenue contributions from the acquired business will commence in the second half of its fiscal year 2027. Additionally, the company projects the acquisition will be accretive to its non-GAAP earnings beginning in that timeframe. Financial forecasts within Marvell anticipate that the combined entity could generate revenue in the vicinity of $100 million in fiscal year 2028.
Market Reaction
Following the announcement, Marvell Technology's shares demonstrated positive performance, climbing approximately 3.32% to reach $93.23 as of Tuesday’s trading session, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Note: This report reflects developments as officially announced, containing data strictly available through corporate disclosures and market reporting, without inference or projection beyond stated information.