LSI snaps up storage player SandForce

Storage vendor hits acquisition trail in pursuit of PCIe flash adapter business growth

Storage vendor LSI has agreed to buy long-standing technology partner SandForce for $322m (£200m) to reinforce its standing in the PCIe flash adapter market.

SandForce manufactures flash storage processors for use in PCIe flash adapters and solid-state drives (SSDs). Its processors are also used by LSI to make its WarpDrive family of SSDs.

The deal is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2012, leading to the SandForce team becoming part of LSI's flash components division.

News of the acquisition comes more than six months after LSI sold off its external storage systems business to NetApp.

Abhi Talwalkar, LSI chief executive, said: "Flash-based solutions are critical for accelerating application performance in servers, storage and client devices.

"Adding SandForce's technology to LSI's broad storage portfolio is consistent with our mission to accelerate storage and networking," he continued.

Michael Raam, president of SandForce, added: "The combination of SandForce and LSI allows us to deliver differentiated solutions in the PCIe flash adapter segment by tightly integrating flash memory and management."