Transmeta buyer Novafora goes under, says report

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Novafora Inc.--which gained fame by acquiring Transmeta Corp.--has gone out of business, according to Light Reading and other sites.

Novafora ran out of money, according to reports. Those reports can be read here and here.

On Friday, the offices of San Jose-based Novafora did not answer phone calls. Last year, Novafora, a startup developer of video processors, entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Transmeta for $255.6 million in cash.

Transmeta originally was involved in the x86-based microprocessor business, but the company fell on hard times and began to focus on IP. In 2008, the end was near for Transmeta. At the time, the company said that it was up for sale.

Formed in 2004, Novafora was a video processor company enabling OEMs to deliver on the promise of the digital video revolution. Zaki Rakib was CEO and co-founder of the startup. Before Novafora, Zaki co-founded Terayon Communication Systems in 1993.

Then, earlier this year, Intellectual Ventures, a patent development and licensing company,acquired the patent portfolio of Transmeta. The portfolio includes more than 140 issued U.S. patents and others pending and issued in the U.S. and elsewhere.

At that time, Intellectual Ventures said that the technology developed by Transmeta would be used further through two routes:1) Novafora's improving its own proprietary designs by using some of the technologies invented by Transmeta; 2) Intellectual Ventures providing other companies with access to Transmeta's former patent rights under non-exclusive licensing terms.