Dec 1 (Reuters) – U.S. chipmaker Marvell Technology is in advanced talks to acquire chip startup Celestial AI in a cash-and-stock deal worth multiple billions of dollars, the Information reported on Monday, citing people with knowledge of the deal. The total deal price, including earnouts from product milestones could be higher than $5 billion, the report said, adding that a deal could be announced as soon as Tuesday. Marvell and Celestial AI did not immediately respond to a Reuters' request for comment. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Marvell, a networking chipmaker with a market capitalization of $78.54 billion dollars as per LSEG data, competes against larger rival Broadcom for providers' custom chip and networking businesses. A potential deal for Celestial AI would strengthen Marvell's portfolio, highlighting relentless demand for computing power. Celestial AI, which is backed by a unit of Advanced Micro Devices, raised $250 million in venture capital in March, bringing its total raised to $515 million. The firm, which counts Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan as a board member, is tapping photonics – a technology that uses light, rather than electrical signals – to create speedy links between AI computing chips and memory chips. (Reporting by Mihika Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
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