September 19, 2023 /SemiMedia/ -- indie Semiconductor yesterday announced it has entered into a definitive agreement and completed the acquisition of privately held EXALOS AG, a Swiss photonics company, specializing in the design of high-performance optical semiconductors.

Founded in 2003 and based in Zürich, EXALOS has developed and launched several highly innovative advanced products for the world’s most demanding application areas. In particular, EXALOS’ field-proven SLEDs for fiber optic gyroscope and Semiconductor Optical Amplifiers (SOAs), backed by 59 global patents, complement indie’s laser and Silicon Photonics products, creating the industry’s highest-performance portfolio targeting rapidly emerging Autotech applications.

"EXALOS’ differentiated solutions immediately expand indie’s ADAS and User Experience product and technology offering to our global tier one and automotive OEM customer base," said Donald McClymont, indie’s co-founder and CEO. "Specifically, indie can now leverage EXALOS’ core Super luminescent LED, and SOA technologies to enable Head Up Display (HUD), high brightness visible lighting and Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU)-based navigational applications and, importantly, to extend our FMCW LiDAR portfolio. We are gaining a well-established team of 17 world class engineers, including the industry’s leading expertise in bright light sources based on a proprietary Gallium Nitride process. At a higher level, our acquisition of EXALOS represents another step in our quest to build a broadline Autotech powerhouse.”

“We are excited to join forces with indie at this key juncture of EXALOS’ evolution," said Christian Velez, CEO and founder of EXALOS. "Given indie’s global sales channels and demonstrated scalability, I am confident that together we can take our business to the next level, capitalizing on clear product synergies between us and extending our customer reach while preserving the EXALOS innovation engine."

Subject to the terms and conditions of the definitive agreement, indie paid approximately $45 million to EXALOS equity holders comprised of 6.6 million indie Class A common shares. In addition, if certain revenue-based performance targets are exceeded over a 24-month post-closing period, there is an opportunity for such holders to earn up to $20 million more in cash or indie Class A common shares, at indie’s election. The transaction has been approved by the boards of directors of both indie and EXALOS. The acquisition is expected to be financially neutral in 2023 and accretive to indie’s 2024 results.