This isn’t news as such given the links etc. on the forums but the contracts have been signed and as of the end of last week Havok is now an ‘Intel company.’
For those who don’t know Havok is one of the most successful Irish game companies. Established in 1998 in Dublin it now has offices in San Francisco, San Antonio, Stockholm, Calcutta, Munich, and Tokyo. It is focused on developing middleware and for more on the numerous game titles which use Havok see http://www.havok.com/content/blogcategory/20/37/
For more on the actual deal you won’t find it on the Havok website but instead on the Intel one in the press room where the notice to acquire has moved down the list of press releases. Their website notes ‘SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sept. 14, 2007 – Intel Corporation today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Havok Inc., the leading provider of interactive software and services used by digital media creators in the game and movie industries. Havok will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Intel.’
Later in the piece Havok CEO David O’Meara says “This is a great fit for Havok products, customers and employees. Intel’s scale of technology investment and customer reach enable Havok with opportunities to grow more quickly into new market segments with new products than we could have done organically. We believe the winning combination is Havok’s technology and customer know-how with Intel’s scale. I am excited to be part of this next phase of Havok’s growth.”
Havok HQ is currently located in the Digital Hub in the centre of Dublin. Intel have a significant presence in Ireland just on the outskirts of Dublin where it employs 5,000 people. It recently announced 200 redundancies at its Dublin plant.
see http://www.idaireland.com/home/case_study.aspx?id=244&content_id=13
http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2007/0919/breaking63.htm
http://lz1.intel.com/appzone/pressroom/PressReleases.asp