On October 26, 2021, Ambarella, an AI vision silicon company, announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Ohio-based Oculii. Oculii's adaptive AI software algorithms are designed to enable radar perception using current production radar chips to achieve significantly higher (up to 100X) resolution, longer range and greater accuracy. These improvements eliminate the need for specialized high-resolution radar chips, which have significantly higher power consumption and cost than conventional radar solutions. Oculii's software can be deployed on Ambarella's existing CVflow® SoCs, operating in conjunction with leading radar RF solutions to increase safety and reliability. Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati represented Ambarella in the transaction.
The acquisition expands Ambarella’s addressable market into radar perception and fusion with its existing edge AI CV perception SoCs for automotive and other IoT endpoint applications, including mobile robotics and security. The fusion of Ambarella’s camera technology and Oculii’s radar software stack provides an all-weather, low-cost, and scalable perception solution, enabling higher levels of autonomy for automotive tier 1s and OEMs globally.
The boards of directors at both companies have approved the transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions and expected to close during Ambarella’s Q4 FY2022 (ending January 31, 2022).
The Wilson Sonsini team that advised Ambarella in the transaction includes:
M&A
Michael Russell
Brendan Ripley Mahan
Emma Sarkisyan
Jonathan Brecher
Corporate
Herbert Fockler
Jennifer Knapp
Technology Transactions
Barath Chari
Privacy
Matt Staples
Daniel Chen
Edward Ruse
Employee Benefits and Compensation
Michelle Wallin
Michael Montfort
Antitrust
Baasil Shariff
Employment and Trade Secrets
Rebecca Stuart
Regulatory
Seth Cowell
Josephine Aiello LeBeau
Anne Seymour
Real Estate / Environmental
James McCann
Martin Sul
For more information, please see Ambarella's press release.