Marvell bolsters UALink switching portfolio with XConn Technologies deal

Marvell has reached a deal to acquire XConn Technologies, a provider of advanced PCIe and CXL switching silicon, furthering its effort to become a key data center networking supplier.

The acquisition expands Marvell’s switching portfolio by adding XConn’s PCIe and CXL products. It augments Marvell’s Ultra Accelerator Link (UALink) scale-up switch team, adding highly experienced engineering talent with deep domain expertise in high-performance switching.

The acquisition of XConn addresses the need to accommodate the evolution of data center system design from single-rack deployments to larger, multi-rack configurations. These new platforms require a high-bandwidth, ultra-low-latency scale-up fabric, such as UALink, to connect large numbers of XPUs and enable more flexible resource sharing across the system.

Marvell will acquire XConn for about $540 million, with about 60% in cash and 40% in stock, with the stock portion valued at Marvell’s 20-day volume-weighted average price (VWAP).

After meeting customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, the acquisition is expected to close in early calendar 2026.

PCIe and CXL switch opportunities

The XConn acquisition will enable Marvell to expand its Total Addressable Market (TAM) by addressing the growing PCIe and CXL switch opportunity.

While PCIe switching has been foundational to traditional computing architectures, it has become a critical building block for accelerated infrastructure. Likewise, CXL is becoming essential for memory disaggregation in modern data centers.

Marvell said the combination of its CXL memory-expansion controllers with XConn CXL switches will create a more “comprehensive CXL portfolio to support demanding AI workloads.”

Another key element XConn brings is a collection of 20 customers. The company’s PCIe 5 and CXL 2.0 switches are in production today, and its PCIe 6 and CXL 3.1 switches are currently sampling.

Marvell said it expects its XConn CXL and PCIe switching products to begin contributing revenue in the second half of fiscal year 2027. At that time, XConn will become accretive to Marvell’s non-GAAP earnings, ramping to approximately $100 million in revenue in fiscal 2028.