Yet Another Acquisition for Conexant

Conexant Systems Inc., continuing its buying spree, said Thursday that it has acquired a small Illinois company that supplies telecommunications software and hardware to equipment companies.

Financial terms of the purchase of Applied Telecom Inc. of Lisle, Ill., were not disclosed.

A Conexant spokesman would say only that the deal was smaller than the acquisition of a Canadian company announced Wednesday. In that deal, Conexant agreed to buy Philsar Semiconductor Inc., in Ottawa for stock valued at up to $213.8 million.

The purchase of Applied Telecom is expected to extend Conexant’s portfolio of semiconductor products targeted at the fast-growing market for network equipment used in the Internet infrastructure.

It gives Conexant, for instance, a foothold in the market for boosting the performance and speed of corporate computer networks while helping to cut costs.

Applied Telecom’s family of software and hardware products includes telecommunications system software that makes it easier to integrate silicon into completed products.

The acquisition also gives Conexant a design center in Illinois’ high-tech growth corridor, where it plans to expand the engineering team for network software.

Earlier this year, Conexant purchased three other companies for a combined total of more than $1.1 billion in stock plus, in one deal, an unspecified amount of cash.