Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the conference call for analysts and investors regarding Infineon's planned acquisition of the Automotive Ethernet business from Marvell. Today's call will be hosted by Daniel Györy, Team Leader Investor Relations at Infineon Technologies. As a reminder, this call is being recorded. This conference call contains forward-looking statements and/or assessments about the business, financial condition, performance, and strategy of the target business, as well as the part of the Infineon Group. These statements and/or assessments are based on assumptions and management expectations resting upon currently available information and present estimates. They are subject to a multitude of uncertainties and risks, many of which are partially or entirely beyond Infineon's control. Infineon's actual business developments, financial condition, performance, and strategy may therefore differ materially from what is discussed in this conference call.
Beyond disclosure requirements as stipulated by law, Infineon does not take any obligation to update forward-looking statements. At this time, it's my pleasure to hand over to Infineon. Please go ahead.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for joining us today on such short notice. On this call, you have our CEO, Jochen Hanebeck, our CFO, Sven Schneider, and Peter Schiefer, our Division President, Automotive, who is dialing in from the U.S., where he has been traveling to welcome our future colleagues. Jochen, Sven, and Peter will explain the strong strategic rationale driving the acquisition, the compelling financial aspects, and the planned financing of the deal. After that, we will start our Q&A session. We will use an illustrating slideshow. On our Investor Relations website, we will provide a replay of this conference call, including the slides as well as a copy of the press release. Now, Jochen, over to you.
Thank you, Daniel, and good morning, everyone. Ladies and gentlemen, the announced transaction presents a unique opportunity for Infineon. It will further strengthen our number one position in automotive microcontrollers while significantly boosting our system capabilities. Infineon, as the number one automotive semiconductor company and the global leader in automotive MCUs, is acquiring the Automotive Ethernet business currently owned by Marvell. This business holds a number one position in Automotive Ethernet and offers a complete portfolio that is fully complementary to our own offering. This deal will enable us to accelerate the transition to software-defined vehicles by advancing zonal architectures based on Ethernet networks. We are very excited about this transaction as it provides an important boost to our already highly successful automotive MCU business. By enhancing our system capabilities in line with our product-to-system strategy, we will be able to offer our customers the most comprehensive and value-adding solutions.
The planned investment will also strengthen Infineon's already strong footprint in the U.S., including extensive R&D activities. Now, let me hand over to Peter, who will walk you through more details about the transaction and its significance for our automotive business. Peter, over to you.
Yeah, thank you, Jochen. First, let me give you a very brief recap of Infineon's position in the automotive semiconductor market. As you may have seen yesterday, the researchers from Tech Insights published their latest data on the global automotive semiconductor market. I'm very pleased to share with you that we have further improved our position in several categories while we conserve our number one position in the overall automotive semiconductor market. We remain the undisputed leader in the automotive power semiconductors. With respect to the crucial category of automotive microcontrollers, we have not only maintained our number one position but expanded it significantly to 32% and therefore widened the gap to the closest competitor. From a regional perspective, we have also seen significant improvements. We continue to hold the number one position in China.
I'm pleased to report that we have improved our position in Europe, now also ranking number one. Furthermore, we have seen gains in the Americas, where we are now ranked number two. In Korea and Japan, we retain our strong position as number one and two, respectively. This strong foundation provides us with the broadest customer access and positions us perfectly to leverage the acquisition we are announcing today. Now, let me introduce the business we are set to acquire. Marvell is a well-known leader in Ethernet technology, and their Brightlane Automotive Ethernet portfolio is the industry benchmark. Their offerings include five transceivers, bridges, and switches that are ideally suited for all automotive applications, from advanced driver-assistance systems to in-vehicle infotainment with a focus on the advanced electronic architectures for software-defined vehicles.
They already serve more than 50 automotive customers, including eight of the top global OEMs. Their strong customer relationships are backed by a lifetime design win pipeline currently standing at roughly $4 billion. The product offering of analog ICs with a differentiated software stack is asset-light. The business is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 25% in the coming years, making it highly accretive to our automotive growth ambitions. Their highly skilled and committed employees located on the U.S. West Coast, in Europe, and in Asia fit perfectly with Infineon's global setup. Let me now elaborate on the key merits of this transaction. Future vehicle architectures will increasingly rely on efficient networking, and traditional field buses are reaching their limits and are being replaced by Ethernet-based solutions.
Modern vehicles require the processing of vast amounts of data from sensors such as cameras, radar, and LiDAR systems while ensuring seamless communication between high-performance computing units and zonal components. In addition, vehicles require real-time diagnostic, secure over-the-air software updates, and support for functional safety. This evolution will drive the demand to three, up to seven Ethernet switches per car, along with a correspondingly higher number of PHYs. The unique value of this acquisition lies in the fact that it strengthens our market-leading MCU business by enhancing our offerings for zonal architectures in the software-defined vehicle. This highly complementary addition to our portfolio will allow us to deliver even greater value to our customers through compelling system solutions aligned with our product-to-system approach. By combining Marvell's expertise with Infineon's global reach, we will establish the strongest position in the zonal compute segment.
Moving to my last slide, I would like to talk briefly about our target markets. On the left-hand side, you see that the Automotive Ethernet market is projected to grow from approximately $500 million in 2024 to five times that size by 2030. This growth is driven by the increasing adoption of software-defined vehicles. While only about 5% of vehicles today are based on zonal architectures, this is expected to rise to roughly 50% by 2030. Ethernet is the backbone of this transformation, making it an essential component of the automotive future. Beyond automotive, Ethernet also plays a critical role in enabling new categories of devices and technologies in other applications with high growth potential. I will pass it back to Jochen to elaborate on one particular exciting adjacent opportunity in more detail.
Yeah, thank you, Peter. As Peter alluded to, the strategic relevance of this acquisition extends beyond the automotive sector. Ethernet technology is increasingly relevant in the rapidly evolving field of humanoid robots, or in more general terms, the world of physical AI. Humanoid robots with advanced sensing and control systems are poised for explosive growth in the coming years. Today, we see rapid step change innovation around various concepts. Market observers are revising up volumes and predict a steep upward trend. We firmly believe that physical AI represents another compelling growth opportunity in the years ahead. Infineon's comprehensive portfolio, ranging from sensors and power semiconductors, especially in this context, gallium nitride, to microcontrollers, connectivity, and security solutions, positions us perfectly to shape this market. With low-latency transmission capabilities, Ethernet is the perfect complement to our existing strengths.
Overall, this acquisition enhances our ability to address exciting new growth vectors while reinforcing our leadership in automotive. With that, let me now pass it over to Sven to discuss the financial aspects of the transaction. Sven, over to you.
Thank you, Jochen, and good morning also from my side. Let me now walk you through the financial aspects of this transaction, which nicely add to its compelling business rationale. The Automotive Ethernet business we are acquiring from Marvell is expected to generate between $225 million and $250 million in revenue in 2025. As explained, it has a high growth momentum with an expected CAGR of 25% over the coming years. This and the attractive gross margin level of around 60% make the business highly accretive to our automotive growth and margin ambitions. We anticipate scale-driven cost synergies from combining production volumes and R&D forces. Revenue synergies will result from leveraging Infineon's unmatched customer reach. These synergies will further support the financial accretion coming from this transaction. The total purchase price for this all-cash transaction is $2.5 billion.
The deal will be financed through a combination of existing liquidity and additional debt. Committed acquisition financing from banks is already in place, reflecting our conservative financing policy and our clear commitment to retaining an investment-grade rating. Subject to regulatory approvals, we expect the transaction to close within the calendar year 2025. The integration will follow the proven script of previous acquisitions, and once integrated, the business will become part of our automotive division. With that, let me hand it back to Jochen for closing remarks.
Thank you, Sven. Let me briefly summarize. This acquisition strengthens our leadership in automotive MCUs and expands our offering with market-leading Ethernet solutions. It is highly complementary to our portfolio and supports our strategic focus on software-defined vehicles by enhancing offers for zonal architectures. Beyond automotive, it opens up exciting opportunities in adjacent applications such as humanoid robots as a prime example for physical AI. Financially, it is accretive to our growth and margin ambitions.
Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes our presentation, and we are now opening up the call for your questions. We kindly ask you to limit yourself to one question and one follow-up. Operator, please start the Q&A session now.
Thank you. Our question-and-answer session will be conducted electronically. If you would like to ask a question, simply press star followed by one on your telephone. If you are joining us using a speakerphone, please ensure that your mute function is turned off. Our first question comes from Didier Scemama, Bank of America. Please go ahead.
Good morning. Thanks for taking my question. My first question is the level of operating margin you expect from this transaction, I would say, at closing and then obviously post-acquisition as you generate synergies on the revenue and cost side. I have got a quick follow-up. Thank you.
Yeah, Didier, Sven here. Hello, and thank you for the question. Line was a bit bad on our end, so I hope I understood it well. Otherwise, please rephrase. We are going in with the numbers, of course, we have seen in our due diligence phase. We have said it's a $225 million-$250 million revenue for 2025 at a gross margin of around 60%. That's the margin we are guiding for. The operating margin, of course, depends then very much on the synergies, which, as I explained briefly in the intro, will kick in over the next years, both on the cost side and also on the revenue side. Over the next years, we definitely, as I said, expect this transaction to be accretive also to operating margins for automotive.
Got it. Thank you. My follow-up is on the regulatory process. Presumably, you need CFIUS approval, and I guess MOFCOM and some other regions. If you could just give us the list of countries you need approval for. Thank you.
Hi, Didier. This is Jochen. We have the typical antitrust topics, namely here U.S. and Germany, maybe other euro restrictions. On the CFIUS side, we expect a process we have a lot of experience with. We do not expect a filing in China, given the level of revenue the target is making in that country.
Very clear. Thank you so much.
The next question comes from Janardan Menon from Jefferies. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi. Good morning. Thanks for taking the question. I just want to understand the synergies from the customer's perspective a little bit better. Would you be able to sell the product to a tier one or OEM as a combined microcontroller plus Ethernet solution, or are these decisions made independently by and large, and they will continue to be made independently?
Peter, you want to take that question?
Yeah, sure. Hi, good morning, Janardan. I think for sure the broad portfolio Infineon had already, combining now the Ethernet solution, is an even more compelling for an OEM to decide to take a complete solution. Especially also the interoperability will be key. You're well aware about the design cycles. Bringing up new car models in less than 20 months needs partners where you can have a chipset which works well and supports the R&D community, not only with the hardware, but also with the software. Here, I'm very confident that we can further enhance the system offering to our customers and make their decisions towards Infineon a sound decision.
Just going to the answer that you gave the previous question, that the target doesn't have much revenue in China, would that be a market where you would see significant upside given that you already have a very strong microcontroller presence there?
Absolutely. We have a great relationship with the key OEMs in China, and we will really use that to make sure that we have also the Ethernet business linked to the applications they are working on.
Just a brief follow-up from me. On the gross margin, I'm assuming that this product is currently being manufactured at the foundries. Are you able to bring it in-house as a statement on your press release seemed to suggest? If so, would you be able to increase the gross margin?
No. These products are manufactured in nodes all the way down to 16 nanometers. So it is clearly in our manufacturing strategy following the foundry approach, which also inherently provides, of course, an advantage to shift it according to potential geopolitical needs, but also fits very nicely to our joint venture in Dresden with TSMC called ESMC.
Understood. Thank you.
The next question comes from Adithya Metuku, HSBC. Please go ahead.
Yeah, good morning, guys. Thank you for taking my questions. Just a couple. Firstly, I wondered if you could give us some color on the main competitors in this business and the automotive and Ethernet landscape. I'm not acquainted with this landscape. Also, if you could comment on what share Marvell has in this landscape, that would be helpful. I have got a follow-up on the financing.
Peter, you want to take?
Yeah, sure. Marvell is the leader in the automotive market. Other competitors which are strong there are, for example, Broadcom and Realtek from Asia.
Got it. Would you say Marvell has a significant market share, majority market share, or any color you can give?
Yeah. I would say that they are very close with Broadcom on the number one position.
Got it. Just as a follow-up on the financing, Sven, is the rate of interest on this debt similar to what you have on your current debt, or would it be or should we assume something higher given all the stuff that is going on in the macro at the moment?
Yeah, Adi, thank you. I fully understand. Maybe I explained that really well, given that we are in unchartered territories in the last days. You know us. We have a very conservative finance policy. We have a very clear commitment to investment-grade rating. In all our major transactions so far, we've always followed a very careful and conservative approach. If you think about Cypress, what we have done at that time, and this time, we don't need equity to be very clear. We even did equity prior to regulatory approvals. This time, again, before launching the transaction, we agreed with banks, with very reputable banks out of our core banking group, for full underwriting of this amount. This is done. We have it on hand.
The spreads or conditions are basically in line with bank financing we have just done a couple of months earlier, the $2 billion undrawn revolving credit facility with 14 banks. That is all in line. Of course, now after this transaction closes, we will think about refinancing it in the markets you are all aware, the dollar markets, the euro bond markets. That is then a little bit later out, but that is the plan to take it out, of course, also with free cash flow and existing cash.
Got it. Thank you.
As a reminder, to ask a question, please press star followed by one. The next question comes from Didier Scemama.
Yeah, thank you for my follow-up. I just wanted maybe a question for Jochen. Strategically, are you trying to, I mean, you're clearly going up the stack with that Ethernet acquisition. Is that an idea because you're trying to dilute the weight of power semis in your mix to just move away from competition from China? Is that the idea here, or is it just broadening the scope of engagement with your customers on the automotive side?
I would say it's strengthened our, let's call it, digital control connectivity part of the company. Yes, we are strong in power, but we feel that the combination is often what makes the difference. If you think about the example I just gave about the humanoid robots with the small joints there, you exactly need all three. You need gallium nitride to drive high frequency, a small motor. You need the control part with a microcontroller, and you need the Ethernet connection then to the main GPU. I would say this transaction clearly strengthens our, yeah, call it microcontroller connectivity leg of the company. That, of course, is from a technology nature, it's very much analog mixed signal technologies, which are in itself very differentiating an d sticky.
Sorry.
Yeah, and obviously very sticky. The other question, I think you had those restrictions when you acquired the Bluetooth Wi-Fi business of Broadcom. Are there any end markets you're not allowed to sell these Ethernet chips? For instance, data center and so on, or are you allowed to sell it into industrial, for instance?
We are allowed to sell it into automotive, industrial, and robotics.
Got it. Congratulations. Thank you.
Thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen, that was our last question.
Thank you. Time to wrap up. Thanks for all your questions. With that, we are concluding this conference call. For further questions, please feel free to contact the IR team here in Munich. Take care and have a good day.