ALISO VIEJO, Calif. -- QLogic Corporation (Nasdaq:QLGC - News), the leader in Fibre Channel host bus adapters (HBAs), stackable switches and blade server switches, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire PathScale, Inc. Pursuant to the terms of the agreement, the Company will pay approximately $109 million in cash and assume the outstanding unvested stock options of PathScale. The acquisition is expected to close in early April following the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

"PathScale's InfiniBand technology allows users to deploy large clusters of inexpensive rackmount and blade servers running Linux for high-performance applications," said H.K. Desai, the Company's chief executive officer and president. "This acquisition demonstrates our commitment to entering new, high-growth markets that enhance our ability to achieve accelerated growth."

Based on InfiniBand technology, PathScale designs and develops System Area Network fabric interconnects targeted at high-performance clustered system environments. Since InfiniBand became a standard in 2001, there has been a growing base of server OEMs who support InfiniBand as the System Area Network fabric interconnect of the future. PathScale's InfiniPath(TM) InfiniBand Host Channel Adapter and OpenIB software provide the highest performance based on well-known metrics that measure latency and bandwidth.

"The synergy created by PathScale's industry leading technology and QLogic's strong market presence and operational excellence will assist us greatly in achieving InfiniBand market leadership," said Scott Metcalf, chief executive officer and president of PathScale. "We are pleased to be part of the QLogic team and look forward to playing an integral part in QLogic's ongoing success."

QLogic Corp. (Nasdaq: QLGC)

PathScale Inc.