Blaze and Aprio announce merger agreement

Blaze DFM, the electrical DFM company, has signed a letter of intent to merge with Aprio Technologies, providing design for manufacturability (DFM) solutions to the semiconductor industry. The integration of Aprio’s analysis and simulation engines into the Blaze product line enables Blaze to offer the electrical DFM solution. Financial terms of the agreement were not announced. The merger is expected to be finalized within the next few weeks.

Jacob Jacobsson, president and CEO at Blaze, said, “In the last couple of years, we have seen some DFM companies absorbed by either equipment manufacturers or by EDA companies. We believe that a pure play DFM company, one that understands both design and manufacturing, adds significant value to the semiconductor eco-system. Blaze’s business is booming and our sales pipeline is exceptionally strong. These factors, together with the strength of Aprio’s technology, are what propelled this merger.�

The merged company will retain the name, Blaze DFM Inc. and will be headquartered at Blaze’s current location in Sunnyvale, California. The company will retain Aprio’s international offices in Japan and Taiwan. Blaze also has an office in San Diego, Calif.

Dr. Clive Wu, Aprio’s co-founder and CEO, joins Dr. Andrew B. Kahng, co-founder and chairman at Blaze, in the Office of the Chief Technologist. Mark Fournival, vice president of worldwide sales at Aprio, becomes vice president of sales. All remaining Blaze executives will retain their current titles and responsibilities.

Dr. Wu, stated, "This merger is a huge win for our customers. It is evident that our visions for DFM are in complete alignment, and that our technologies are complementary. This helps significantly in accelerating the realization of our collective vision."

Dr. Andrew B. Kahng, co-founder, chairman and chief technologist at Blaze, explained, “Aprio’s technology is unique in that it is accurate enough for signoff litho simulation and fast enough for design optimization. The combination of Aprio and Blaze will result in the most complete electrical DFM solution available from any source.�

Blaze-DFM
Aprio Technologies