National Instruments strengthen its position on RF Design and Test markets

06/07/2011

National Instruments announced its acquisition of Phase Matrix, Inc. (PMI). The acquisition brings key RF talent, technologies and manufacturing capabilities to NI and will significantly increase the capability of NI products in high-frequency RF and microwave applications, extending the frequency range of NI products to 26.5 GHz and beyond. Phase Matrix will continue to operate under the name “Phase Matrix, Inc.” as a wholly owned NI subsidiary and will continue to design and manufacture RF and microwave test and measurement instruments, subsystems and components. Phase Matrix founders, Pete Pragastis and Charanbir Mahal, will remain with the company as the general manager and chief technology officer, respectively. The purchase price was approximately $38 million, and the other transaction terms are not being disclosed.

Phase Matrix, Inc. is a privately held company in San Jose, California, that designs and manufactures RF and microwave test-and-measurement (T&M) instruments, subsystems and components. PMI, which was founded in 1999, is comprised of highly experienced employees who have successfully designed and sold high-quality RF and microwave products for both the commercial and military industries. For more information visit www.phasematrix.com

National Instruments also announced that it has signed a definitive merger agreement under which NI will acquire AWR Corporation (AWR). AWR is a leading supplier of electronic design automation (EDA) software for designing RF and high-frequency components and systems for the semiconductor, aerospace and defense, communications and test equipment industries. Upon the closing of the transaction, AWR will continue to operate as a wholly owned NI subsidiary under the leadership of the existing management team.

The acquisition will strengthen both companies’ core software brands, NI LabVIEW, AWR Microwave Office and Visual System Simulator, as well as the NI RF testing hardware platform. The full suite of AWR design tools in combination with a complete RF testing platform from NI will give customers a platform to decrease the time to market of their RF designs. NI will also augment its current academic and university RF and communications initiatives to include AWR software tools, so educators and students can benefit from the improved teaching and learning experience for the rapid design and prototyping of RF systems. To learn more about AWR visit www.awrcorp.com.

National Instruments
www.ni.com

Company profile:  National Instruments