Semiconductor IP startup Sonics plans $80M IPO

By Colleen Taylor, Contributing Editor -- Electronic News, 8/27/2007

Mountain View, Calif.-based semiconductor intellectual property (IP) startup Sonics Inc. has filed regulatory forms with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to hold an initial public offering (IPO) of an unspecified number of shares of common stock for a total value of as much as $80 million.

Founded in 1996, Sonics develops interconnect solutions that manage the on-chip communications in system-on-chip (SoC) devices. Among Sonics' investors are industry heavyweights Toshiba Corp., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Cadence Design Systems Inc. and Xilinx Ltd., along with a cadre of venture capital firms. The company counts Broadcom Corp., Texas Instruments Inc., and Toshiba as its three largest customers.

The proposed IPO marks the first public market for Sonics' stock.  In its SEC filing, Sonics requested that its stock trade on the Nasdaq market under the symbol "SNCS."  Also in the filings, Sonics said it had revenue of $6.3 million, $9.7 million and $16.3 million for fiscal 2005, 2006 and 2007, respectively. For the three months ended June 30, Sonics said it had a net profit of $2.8 million, up from a $900,000 loss it posted during the same period one year ago. Also during the quarter ended June 30, Sonics recorded revenue of $4.3 million, up from the $4.2 million revenue it posted in the same quarter last year.