Paris, 18 November 2024 – Racine has assisted NanoXplore, a specialist in electronics for the space industry, in its acquisition of the ASIC activities of Dolphin Design, a company with expertise in integrated circuit design. Through this operation, NanoXplore is diversifying into the defence sector and positioning itself as a key partner to meet the growing demands of this highly strategic industry.

NanoXplore, a French fabless semiconductor company founded in 2010, designs radiation-hardened FPGAs (programmable integrated circuits) for use in high-reliability environments, including aerospace. With the recent launch of NG-ULTRA, the world’s most advanced radiation-hardened FPGA SoC, NanoXplore has established itself as one of the European leaders in this field, competing with giants such as Intel and AMD.

The acquisition of the ASIC business of Dolphin Design, a Soitec subsidiary, is part of a drive to strengthen NanoXplore’s technological expertise and diversify its component offering to meet the growing reliability and performance needs of the aerospace industry.

This acquisition also marks NanoXplore’s entry into the strategic and sovereign defence sector, where the company aims to become a major player in defence electronics in Europe, while maintaining a specifically French approach. By building on this synergy, NanoXplore is positioning itself as a key player in European semiconductors, contributing to the continent’s technological autonomy and sovereignty ambitions.

The acquisition also opens up new innovation opportunities for NanoXplore, in particular with the establishment of a new office in Grenoble, where it will consolidate its research and development teams.

Racine advised NanoXplore on this strategic acquisition with a team consisting of Bruno Laffont (partner) and Joséphine Combret (associate). Racine was involved in all legal aspects of this transaction.