LSI Corporation have just announced that they have signed a definitive agreement to acquire SandForce Inc for approximately $322 million in cash, net of cash assumed, and assume approximately $48 million of unvested stock options and restricted shares held by SandForce employees. SandForce is a leading provider of flash storage processors for enterprise and client flash solutions and solid state drives (SSDs).

SandForce controllers power most of the SSDs we all know and love, and the acquisition greatly enhances LSI's competitive position in the fast-growing server and storage PCIe flash adapter market, where the WarpDrive family of products from LSI are already SandForce-powered.

Abhi Talwalkar, LSI president and chief executive officer has a few things to say:

Flash-based solutions are critical for accelerating application performance in servers, storage and client devices. Adding SandForce's technology to LSI's broad storage portfolio is consistent with our mission to accelerate storage and networking. The acquisition represents a significant, rapidly growing market opportunity for LSI over the next several years.

SandForce president and CEO, Michael Raam said:

The combination of SandForce and LSI allows us to deliver differentiated solutions in the PCIe flash adapter segment by tightly integrating flash memory and management. In addition, leveraging our flash storage processors with LSI's comprehensive IP portfolio and leading-edge silicon design platforms will lead to innovative solutions.

The transaction is said to close early in Q1 2012 subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. Once the acquisition is complete, the SandForce team will become part of LSI's newly formed Flash Components Division, with Raam as general manager.