Chip designer ATI says looks to buy something big
Tue Jan 25, 2005 06:45 PM ET
(In U.S. dollars unless noted)
By Jeffrey Hodgson
TORONTO, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Graphics chip designer ATI Technologies Inc. (ATY.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) (ATYT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) is interested making a large merger or acquisition after confining itself to a few small deals in recent years, chief executive David Orton said on Tuesday.
"We've been on a pace of about one (deal) a year and I think it's about time for us to now look at a bigger step, but nothing is in the funnel," he told reporters after the company's annual meeting.
"You don't want to go into it lightly. It can destroy companies. But the digital consumer is the area and there's a breadth of proximity markets ... that are interesting to us."
ATI's last major acquisition was its $400 million stock-based purchase of chip developer ArtX Inc. in 2000.
Since then it has focused on its fierce rivalry with graphics chip designer Nvidia Corp. (NVDA.O: Quote, Profile, Research) , and on expanding its market beyond computers to game consoles, televisions and other devices.
Orton said newly appointed chief financial officer Patrick Crowley, who joined the firm this month, would be expected to "sharpen" the company's process for evaluating potential deals.
But he declined to say how much Markham, Ontario-based ATI was prepared to spend on a deal.
"It's not so much a financial question as it is an alignment question from my standpoint. If you find the right alignment and you have a common view of where you can go with this, the market in a sense will define the value," he said.
