Infineon completes sale of wireline business; Lantiq becomes standalone company

NEUBIBERG, GERMANY: Infineon Technologies AG and Lantiq announced the closing of the sale of Infineon’s Wireline business to Lantiq, an affiliate of the US based investor Golden Gate Capital.

“We are very pleased that we successfully finalized this transaction with Golden Gate Capital. I am glad to see our former WLC division well prepared and supported to take a leadership position in its core market. As Infineon, we actively assist a smooth transition process for our joint customers and partners from Infineon to Lantiq”, said Peter Bauer, CEO of Infineon Technologies.

“This transaction is a positive example for our efforts to stronger focus our R&D investments in our lead business segments. Infineon will continue to drive its leading technological position in the three key sectors energy efficiency, communications and security.”

The new company, Lantiq, is a fabless semiconductor company with over 20 years of experience in Wireline communication and a strong technical foundation with over 800 patent families. Lantiq will continue to drive innovation for the Next-Generation Access and Home Networks.

“It is an exciting day and an important milestone for Lantiq. We are looking forward to developing our market presence further and serving our customers even better by enhancing our product portfolio“, said Christian Wolff, CEO of Lantiq. “Lantiq’s recently announced first acquisition in the Home Networking segment shows our focus and commitment to the wireline communication market.”

The sale of Infineon WLC to Golden Gate Capital was announced in July this year. The final purchase price will amount to approximately EUR 243 Million resulting from customary adjustments in the asset purchase agreement with Golden Gate Capital.

Infineon is expected to record a book gain of more than Euro 100 Million as a result of this transaction in the first quarter of its fiscal year ending September 30, 2010.

Lantiq is a market leader in the broadband access market and has approximately 900 employees around the globe. It is among the world’s top 15 fabless semiconductor companies and fifth largest among the companies headquartered in Europe.