NVIDIA to acquire iPod chipmaker PortalPlayer
It looks like NVIDIA has made a strategic move and purchased PortalPlayer, a company that has historically developed semiconductor, firmware and software platforms for portable multimedia products such like personal media players, like the iPod, and personal wireless entertainment devices.
"NVIDIA Corporation said Monday it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire iPod chipmaker PortalPlayer, Inc. in a cash for stock transaction. Under terms of the agreement, which have been approved by the Board of Directors of each company, the Santa Clara, Calif.-based graphics technologies developer will pay $13.50 in cash for each outstanding share of PortalPlayer common stock. The deal represents a total purchase price of approximately $357 million, or approximately $161 million net of cash on PortalPlayer's balance sheet as of September 30, 2006. PortalPlayer, which was founded in 1999, is widely recognized for its high-performance system-on-chip (SoC) technology that power some of the world's most recognizable portable digital music players, including Apple Computer's iPods."
