Broadcom Corp. has added two buildings to its Irvine headquarters campus to house hundreds of new employees and expanded research and development.
The two-story buildings at Irvine’s University Research Park are about 50,000 square feet each and can house 375 workers, labs and administrative space.
The expansion is part of Broadcom’s ongoing growth at the business park next to the University of California, Irvine.
The chipmaker moved into an eight-building, 685,000-square-foot campus built for it at University Research Park in 2007. Broadcom now occupies 12 buildings after adding four since moving from the Irvine Spectrum four years ago.
The company’s 2004 lease deal included rights to other buildings in the park.
Broadcom is near capacity at its headquarters in the wake of record sales and profits last year as demand increased for its chips for tablet computers, smartphones, set-top boxes, broadband modems, networking gear and other products.
“Our facilities expansion is testament to the ongoing innovative work of our engineers, who are developing some of the most cutting edge technology products for some of the coolest, most popular devices,” said Bryce Mason, Broadcom’s vice president of global real estate.
Broadcom has been a big local employment gainer in the past 12 months, rising 12% to 2,267 people. The company employs more than 9,000 worldwide.
The technology industry’s rebound and acquisitions boosted Broadcom’s 2010 sales to $6.8 billion, a 52% rise from a year earlier.
In November, Broadcom acquired Israel’s Percello Ltd. for $86 million and Israel’s Sightic Vista Ltd. for an estimated $10 million to $20 million.
A month later, it bought Northern California’s Gigle Networks Inc. for up to $83 million.
Earlier Deals
Earlier in 2010, Broadcom bought Santa Clara’s Beceem Communications Inc. for $316 million and Britain’s Innovision Research & Technology PLC for $47.5 million.
In March, the company struck a deal to buy Israeli chip startup Provigent Ltd. for $313 million. The acquisition is set to close in the second quarter.
Last year’s revenue gain pushed Broad-com from the county’s sixth largest public company to No. 3, behind Santa Ana’s Ingram Micro Inc. and Irvine’s Western Digital Corp., according to the Business Journal’s April 11 list of the largest public companies here.
The company “far surpassed our 2010 financial goals of gaining market share,” Chief Executive Scott McGregor said on a February conference call with analysts and investors.
Broadcom moved into its two new buildings in early April.
Financial details of the lease weren’t disclosed. The deal included upgrades to the buildings, according to Broadcom’s Mason.
University Research Park is owned by Irvine Company and UC Irvine.
The company’s headquarters is built for engineers: boxy, functional buildings with more than 80,000 square feet of lab space, a cafeteria and gym
Broadcom’s buildings are connected by sidewalks and gardens, separated by a basketball court, sand volleyball court and a lawn where employee gatherings are held.
Executives and Wall Street analysts project continued growth for Broadcom this year, albeit at a more tempered pace than in 2010, a big rebound year.
