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ATI acquires leading Finnish developer of mobile graphics technology

05/05/2006

On 2nd May 2006, Ontario-based ATI Technologies Inc. announced that it has acquired the privately-held Finnish company Bitboys Oy, a 15-year veteran of the graphics industry, for approximately EUR 35 million. According to a statement, Bitboys “Brings valuable engineering experience, technology and customer relationships that enhance ATI's existing mobile-phone multimedia offerings”.

In its press release, ATI said that the Bitboys team will be fully integrated in to ATI's Handheld Business Unit, and will form the nucleus for a key design centre for ATI in Europe. According to an article published by Digitoday Finland, the new unit will be called ATI Research Finland, and all of Bitboys 43 employees will join the ATI organisation.

“A classic win-win, realizing value for both companies."

Mikko Saari, CEO of Bitboys, said "ATI gives us what we need to reach the next level. Their market presence and ability to sell our products as part of a complete multimedia lineup will prove incredibly valuable to us. It's a classic win-win, realizing value for both companies.”

Paul Dal Santo, GM of ATI's Handheld Business Unit, said "Bitboys dovetails into ATI perfectly. Handsets are transitioning to hardware acceleration for graphics and multimedia, and the Bitboys team will play a critical role as we drive this key inflection point to make ATI the platform of choice for content providers." According to ATI, a unified software environment allows developers to easily create content for a range of devices and offers mobile phone manufacturers faster time to market.

Based in Canada, ATI Technologies Inc. is a world leader in the design and manufacture of innovative 3D graphics, PC platform technologies and digital media silicon solutions. Net sales by ATI in 2005 totalled USD 2,220 million and the company employs more than 3,400 people. ATI has research and development facilities in California, Florida, Massachusetts, Ontario and Pennsylvania and manufactures its products in Canada and Taiwan.

Finland-based Bitboys develops and licenses graphics hardware IP solutions for a variety of wireless and embedded devices. Bitboys graphics processors are specifically designed for power- and size-restricted environments and are the outcome of 15 years of experience in graphics research and development. Bitboys currently employs more than 40 dedicated graphics professionals.

Further information:

http://www.ati.com
http://www.bitboys.com

Article in Digitoday Finland (in Finnish):

http://www.digitoday.fi/showPage.php?page_id=12&news_id=55782