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Saturday, May 9, 2026

Another Day, Another Microsemi Buy

Irvine-based Microsemi Corp. bought its second small company in as many days.

The maker of chips for military, aerospace and industrial uses said Wednesday it acquired Bethesda, Md.-based Arxan Defense Systems Inc. for undisclosed terms.

Arxan makes chips for the military that prevent tampering, piracy and reverse engineering. They’re built into weapons systems in conjunction with special software.

“The combination of Microsemi and Arxan Defense Systems creates a broad and complementary product portfolio for the defense market,” Chief Executive Jim Peterson said. “Arxan’s software and firmware solutions fulfill an important role in protecting Department of Defense-critical technologies while they serve to enable additional opportunities in non-U.S. military markets.”

In 2007, Arxan raised more than $13 million in a third round of venture funding.

Its investors include Washington, D.C. based Legend Ventures LLC, DF Ventures, Paladin Homeland Security Fund, Solstice Capital and Trident Capital.

The Arxan deal comes a day after Microsemi announced it bought Atlanta-based VT Silicon Inc. for undisclosed terms.

VT Silicon designs and makes power amplifier chips for cell phones that run on fourth generation networks, such as WiMax.

The company focuses on mobile broadband markets where the radio frequency signal is very complex.

*For more on this story, read the previous Business Journal Web story.

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