Custom chip designer Marvell to buy optical equipment maker Lumentum for $115 billion
US company Marvell has agreed to acquire optical chip and networking equipment maker Lumentum in a deal with an enterprise value of $115 billion. It is one of the largest acquisitions in tech history.
Marvell, a designer of custom chips, has signed an agreement to acquire Lumentum, a maker of optical chips and networking equipment. The all-stock deal carries an enterprise value of $115 billion including debt, and an equity value of roughly $80 billion. It ranks among the biggest acquisitions in the history of the technology industry.
Deal terms
Marvell will give 4.5 shares of its common stock for each Lumentum share. For comparison, Microsoft paid $68.7 billion for Activision Blizzard in 2022, and Dell paid $67 billion for EMC in 2016.
A shared shareholder: Nvidia
The two companies have one major shareholder in common, GPU maker Nvidia. In March, as part of a multi-year agreement to buy Lumentum's advanced laser components, Nvidia invested $2 billion to support Lumentum's research and development and expansion of its fabrication plants. Later the same month, Marvell announced that Nvidia had also invested $2 billion in it, aimed at strengthening Marvell's optical networking and chip portfolio.
What comes next
Marvell says that with Lumentum it will become a leader in AI connectivity, offering products that range from chips to data centers. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of calendar year 2028, provided that shareholders of both companies and regulators approve it.
