Synopsys Captures Extreme DA

Synopsys Inc. (SNPS - Analyst Report) recently completed the acquisition of privately held electronic design automation (EDA) company, Extreme DA. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Santa Clara-based Extreme DA develops software to improve the design, power consumption and manufacturing of integrated circuits (IC). Its flagship Static Timing Analysis and Timing Sign-off software will help Synopsys to accelerate the upgrade of its timing analysis solutions. Static timing analysis plays a vital role in the measurement of circuit timing.

As both companies have the same line of business, the integration of Extreme DA will be easier for Synopsys. Not only will Synopsys gain from Extreme DA’s technology, it will also gain from its people, particularly engineers and sales agents. The combined effort will aid Synopsys to deliver advanced solutions, helping customers to achieve scalability, convergence and throughput needs while designing ICs.

Synopsys has always opted for strategic acquisitions to strengthen its product portfolio. In September, Synopsys completed the acquisition of a leading independent provider of verification IP (VIP), nSys Design Systems Private Limited. With this acquisition, Synopsys intends to increase investment in VIP technology to address the growing verification challenges that designers face while developing complex systems on chips (SoCs) to serve the demand for 'smart' electronics.

With the acquisition of Virage Logic Corp. in 2010, Synopsys added embedded memories, including SRAMs (static random access memory) and non-volatile memory, logic libraries, embedded test and repair IP and configurable processor cores, to its IP portfolio.

Synopsys delivered encouraging results in the second quarter of 2011, with decent improvement in operating performance. But the third quarter guidance disappointed, as the revenue expectation was weaker than expected. But the earnings per share expectation was decent.

We are encouraged with Synopsys’ product innovation strategy, the popularity of its time-based license model and its strong cash position.

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