Intel Buys Infiniband Unit From Qlogic For $125M

Published January 23, 2012 8:18PM (EST)

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Intel Corp. on Monday said it had agreed to buy Qlogic Corp.'s line of Infiniband adapters, used to tie processors together into supercomputing clusters, for $125 million.

Inifiniband is a networking standard espoused by several companies. It features high data rates over short distances, making it suitable for combining the computing power of many machines into one big supercomputer.

Intel said the acquisition would help it reach the goal of supplying computers that can perform one exaflop, or a quintillion calculations, per second. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company expects a "significant number" of Qlogic employees to accept offers to join Intel.

Simon Biddiscombe, the CEO of Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based Qlogic, said the sale lets the company focus on its business of providing networking equipment for data centers and strengthens its cash position. He expects the deal to leave the company's earnings per share unaffected.

Qlogic shares rose 3 cents to $16.58 in afternoon trading while Intel shares rose 37 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $26.75.


By Salon Staff

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