Canadian Semiconductor Maker to Buy Irvine’s Vertex Networks

A Canadian semiconductor maker said Wednesday that it has agreed to buy closely held Vertex Networks Inc. in Irvine for stock worth about $202.9 million to gain technology that cuts data-transmission delays.

Mitel Corp. in Kanata, Ontario, said in a press release that it will pay 11 million shares for Vertex. It plans to keep Vertex’s 75-person staff.

Vertex makes semiconductors that reduce delays in sending telephone calls and other voice transmissions over the Internet by as much as 75%.

With $5 million in sales this year, it provides network-packet processing software to help companies manage Internet capacity and traffic on data networks. Vertex has design centers in San Jose and in Taiwan.

Mitel makes components that can send voice and data over the same network.

Mitel said it expects the transaction to be completed before Aug. 30, subject to regulatory and other approvals.