In brief

• Marvell Technology has agreed to acquire optical component maker Lumentum in an all-stock deal.
• The transaction carries an enterprise value of $115 billion, with equity value near $80 billion.
• Nvidia is a shared investor in both companies, having put $2 billion into each.

Deal terms and size

Marvell Technology, a custom chip designer, has signed an agreement to take over Lumentum, a maker of optical chips and networking equipment. The transaction carries an enterprise value of $115 billion, debt included, while the equity value sits near $80 billion (In one of the largest deals in tech history, Marvell buys Lumentum for $115B – TechCrunch). Marvell will pay with its own shares, handing over 4.5 of its common shares for each Lumentum share. In euro terms, the value has been put at roughly 103,000 million euros (Marvell compra Lumentum por más de 103.000 millones para crecer en IA – Expansión), and in Czech media terms at about 2.5 trillion crowns (Obří sázka na umělou inteligenci. Marvell koupí Lumentum za 2,5 bilionu korun – Novinky.cz).

Why the deal matters

AI systems depend not only on fast processors but also on how quickly data moves between chips and across data centres. Marvell and Lumentum say their combined portfolio will span chips for processing and moving data as well as lasers, optical transmitters and receivers, and optical switches. Marvell says the merged company will become a leader in AI connectivity. The companies expect the transaction to close in the first half of 2028 (Marvell to buy Lumentum in all-stock deal, a massive bet on AI connectivity – CNBC).

Comparison with past mega-deals

At $115 billion, the transaction ranks among the largest in tech history. For comparison, Microsoft's purchase of Activision Blizzard was valued at $68.7 billion in 2022, and Dell's acquisition of EMC at $67 billion in 2016.

Common shareholder link

The two companies share a major investor: Nvidia. In March, Nvidia agreed to a multi-year deal to buy Lumentum's advanced laser components and invested $2 billion to support Lumentum's research and fab expansion. The same month, Marvell said Nvidia had also invested $2 billion in Marvell to strengthen its optical networking and chip portfolio.