NED Karachi alum Raghib Husain's company acquired by Marvell for $6 billion

LAHORE: Another milestone of considerable magnitude has been achieved by Raghib Husain, a Pakistani-American co-founder of Cavium which was recently acquired by chip-maker Marvell in a deal valued at $6 billion.

Husain who studied at NED University of Engineering Technology (NEDUUT), Karachi co-founded Cavium with his friend Syed B. Ali after the dotcom burst in late-2000 and took the company public in 2007 with a then market valuation of $600 million.

In an email sent to his friends on November 23^rd, Husain said:

"Now that the news is public you must have figured out why I was so busy lately. It’s a day with mixed feelings for me. It’s like sending 17yrs old off to college. In any case I’m thankful to Allah to give us opportunity to experience this."

"To summarize: I started Cavium with Syed in late 2000, took public in 2007 with a Market cap of about $600M, ten years later in 2017, we are an established semiconductor company with revenue of $1B, 2000 employees and Market Cap of $5B and now consolidated for over $6.5B enterprise value. At the market close on Wednesday, the deal already valued at $7.5B (enterprise value). Alhamdolillah! I am thankful for everyone’s prayers and support."

Marvell Technology offered around $6 billion for Cavium in a cash-and-stock deal that would create a chip maker to compete with Intel and other giants in the industry. The potential deal extends a long-running consolidation for computer chip producers which are trying to grow so that they can better supply tech leaders like Apple, Google and Samsung.

Cavium stockholders are expected to own about 25 percent of the combined company. Marvell CEO Matt Murphy will lead the combined company, with Cavium co-founder and CEO Syed Ali serving as a strategic adviser and board member.

Cavium makes chips for wired and wireless tech products and is prominent in networking technology. Marvell makes application-specific chips and integrated circuits for data storage. The combined company would be able to trim costs and offer a more robust package to potential customers.