The Tool Desk
Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →In early 1999, Atmel agreed to acquire Motorola’s Smart Information Transfer (SIT) smart-card semiconductor business—not Motorola itself. The companies did not disclose the purchase price. Atmel said the unit was expected to contribute about $30 million in revenue in 1999.
What Atmel acquired
The deal covered Motorola’s SIT business, which made microcontroller-based chips embedded in smart cards. Those chips were used in banking and identification cards, as well as pay phones and health-identification cards. The Los Angeles Times described the acquisition as making Atmel the No. 3 producer of chips for information-storing cards used in banking and identification.
Atmel already had smart-card products weighted toward secure memory. The SIT unit added microcontroller-based chips, which brought more processing capability to its portfolio.
Price and expected revenue
The purchase price and other financial terms were not disclosed in contemporaneous reports. EDN reported Atmel’s estimate that the acquired unit would contribute about $30 million in revenue during 1999. That was a forecast for the unit’s revenue, not the acquisition price or a reported purchase-price valuation.
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When the acquisition took place
The Los Angeles Times reported Atmel’s agreement on January 29, 1999; EDN identified the SIT unit and said closing was expected in the first or second quarter of that year. A secondary acquisitions database lists April 27, 1999 as the acquisition date. That database date is corroboration, rather than a date confirmed by the contemporaneous company reporting cited here.
Why the deal mattered
The acquisition strengthened Atmel’s range of smart-card technology and its position in Europe. EDN reported that smart cards were already widely used there, including for pay phones and health identification, while the U.S. market was developing more slowly amid security concerns. Atmel marketing vice president Jeff Katz said, “The acquisition will complement our business nicely.”
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