Lucent Technologies Inc.’s Microelectronics Group acquired Optimay GmbH, a privately held software-development company based in Munich, Germany.
Optimay, which will become a subsidiary of Lucent Technologies International, develops software products and services for Global System for Mobile communications wireless handsets. The arrangement is valued at $65 million.
The acquisition, said Lucent, is consistent with the group’s strategy of expanding its leadership position in the market for GSM chipsets. Optimay’s software technology, which controls a cellular phone’s call-processing and user-interface functions, will add to Lucent’s digital signal processor technology.
“Until now, cellular phone manufacturers often had to deal with several different companies for silicon and software,” said John Dickson, president of Lucent’s Microelectronics Group. “Just as it is helpful to buy bundled software with your PC to avoid compatibility and integration problems, so it is also advantageous for a cellular phone manufacturer to buy the telephone’s silicon and software from one company.”
For two years Lucent and Optimay have cooperated in integrating Optimay’s software with Lucent’s GSM chipsets to support common customers, said Aaron Fisher, general manager of the wireless semiconductor business of Lucent Technologies Microelectronics Group. The acquisition, he said, will allow the companies to improve marketing efforts and optimize the hardware and software with each other.
“This acquisition means our menu now includes a software platform,” said Fisher. “Now, with a full plate of items, customers can either choose a complete solution, or they can order what they need in an a la carte fashion.”
The acquisition also gives Lucent a strong European presence.
“Optimay is not well-known in the United States, but they are very well-known in wireless circles in Europe and is one of maybe a half-dozen companies in the entire world that actually freelance as far as writing code for GSM and other air interfaces,” said Will Strauss, president of Forward Concepts, a market research firm specializing in DSP and related markets. “I think it’s a real coup for Lucent because [Optimay] does have an excellent reputation.”
Strauss said with the Asian currency crisis causing a slowdown in deploying digital technology in that region, Lucent is emphasizing its presence in Europe.
“Lucent is really trying to bolster its international presence, especially Europe,” he said. “This will give them more clout in the European market because Optimay is so well-known there.”
Lucent said it expects to record a one-time, noncash charge against earnings during the third quarter as a result of the Optimay acquisition.
