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Who says RFID isn't hot?
RFID stands for radio frequency identification, and it is supposed to be all the rage in retail. RFID tags emit low-power radio waves, so that RFID readers can track the movement of tagged objects -- be it in retail, military or for security reasons.
We mentioned earlier that Alien, an RFID company of Morgan Hill just south of Silicon Valley, filed a "scary" IPO prospectus -- showing no profits and lots of other risks.
But now Savi Technology, of Sunnyvale, has just been sold to defense contractor Lockheed Martin for around $400 million, according to a well-placed source. Here's the Mercury News story.
Vector Capital, a San Francisco buyout firm which is the largest shareholder in Savi, is on a roll. It is the third deal worth about $400 million for the firm in just the last week. (Update: Zoli below suggests a sale of $400M may not be that big, considering Savi was valued in a private round for more than $400M just a year or so ago. Good point, and perhaps sign RFID may not be all that hot afterall. However, Vector invested in Savi early, starting at a valuation $200M or lower, according to our source, and so probably did ok.)
It is relatively unusual for defense contractors like Lockheed to buy Silicon Valley companies.