Gimv portfolio company CoWare to be acquired by Synopsys

Gimv portfolio company CoWare (United States) is to be acquired by Nasdaq-listed electronic design automation company Synopsys (www.synopsys.com). The acquisition will expand Synopsys’ portfolio of system-level design and verification products used in wireless, consumer and automotive design.

Microelectronics company CoWare (www.coware.com), which originated in the IMEC research centre in Leuven, is an authority in developing electronic system level (ESL) software and services. The company was established in 1996 and delivers products and services for systems-on-chips (SoC) designers. These chips are becoming ever smaller and the applications ever more complex. CoWare seeks to offer its customers a complete package of products and services which continue to meet the demand of a highly complex and integrated SoC market. The main customers are leading system integrators, semi-conductor and IP companies like NXP, IBM, STMicroelectronics, Yamaha, Fujitsu and Toshiba. Gimv is shareholder of CoWare since the initial series A financing round in 1997. In total Coware raised USD 85 million in 6 capital rounds, with Gimv participating in each.

The transaction is expected to be closed before the end of second quarter of 2010, depending on clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Anti-Trust Improvements Act (American anti-trust authorities). The sale has a positive impact of approximately EUR 6.0 million (EUR 0.26 per share) on Gimv’s equity value at 31 December 2009.

All parties involved have decided not to disclose any financial details on this transaction.