\Under the terms of the sale, Maxim will acquire Vitesse's serial attached SCSI (SAS), serial attached ATA(SATA) expander product segments, enclosure and baseboard management devices and certain other assets of Vitesse's Storage Products Division.

The products being divested accounted for approximately $20 million of Vitesse's consumption during the 12 months ended June 30.

Vitesse will retain its RAID-on-chip (ROC) and Fibre Channel product segments, which had been part of the Storage Products Division and will be integrated into its continuing operations.

Maxim (Sunnyvale, Calif.) intends to offer employment to more than 50 of Vitesse's engineers and technical experts in connection with the acquisition. The company expects the acquired business to be accretive to earnings in calendar 2008, said Maxim President and CEO Tunc Doluca.

"In addition to their high performance silicon content these products have a significant software and firmware component critical to the end customer,'' he said in a statement. ''The process of amassing a design and firmware team of this size and talent would have been difficult and time consuming for Maxim.''

Vitesse (Camarillo, Calif.) also announced $30 million in new financing, which the company will use, along with the sale proceeds, to repay its existing credit facility and to invest in its business.

Vitesse itself has been the subject of a stock scandal and other problems. Chapman Capital L.L.C. -- an investment advisor to two funds that comprise the largest reported ownership block of Vitesse -- has launched a formal investigation into the backgrounds of two board members at the chip maker.

By: DocMemory
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