Silicon Labs buys MEMS firm

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Silicon Laboratories Inc. has acquired Silicon Clocks Inc., a developer of microelectromechanical system (MEMS) technology, for an undisclosed price.

The deal expands Silicon Labs' portfolio. Silicon Clocks' CMEMS (CMOS+MEMS) technology enables timing-related products.

"In addition, we believe this is a strategic technology platform uniquely capable of integrating several different MEMS with their associated CMOS circuitry on the same monolithic die," said Mark Downing, vice president of business development and corporate strategy for Silicon Laboratories, in a statement.

Silicon Clocks will augment Silicon Labs' R&D team and bring 20 key patents to the company. Headquartered in Fremont, Calif., Silicon Clocks was founded in 2006. Silicon Clocks was backed by leading venture investors including Tallwood Venture Capital, Charles River Ventures, Formative Ventures, Lux Capital and Silicon Labs.

Silicon Labs also posted its results. First quarter revenue of $126.7 million was a 51 percent increase over the same period in 2009 and flat sequentially, a better than seasonal result.

Net income was $21.079 million in the quarter, up from $671,000 a year ago. Fully diluted earnings per share was $0.44, up from $0.01 during the same period last year.

The company guided revenues for the second quarter in the range of $131 to $135 million.

In 2008, Silicon Laboratories acquired Integration Associates Inc. for $80 million.

Earlier this year, Black Sand Technologies Inc. (Austin, Texas), a specialist in CMOS power amplifier technology for wireless applications, acquired a patent portfolio related to CMOS power amplifiers from Silicon Laboratories (Austin, Texas).