Navitas Semiconductor announced a definitive agreement to acquire Claros for approximately $232.8 million, marking the first mid-cap move into co-packaged optics for AI infrastructure. The transaction positions Navitas upstream of its current gallium nitride power IC business, targeting the $8 billion addressable market where power delivery, thermal management, and optical interconnects converge inside the same physical package. Shares rose 4.2% in premarket Tuesday on volume triple the daily average.
Claros manufactures silicon photonics and co-packaged optics modules used in AI accelerator clusters where power density exceeds 1,500 watts per chip and optical bandwidth requirements push beyond 3.2 terabits per second. Navitas already supplies GaN power ICs into hyperscale server power supplies and GPU voltage regulators. The acquisition brings module-level integration into the same corporate structure, collapsing two supply chain layers into one negotiation for data center operators running 100,000-plus GPU installations. Claros disclosed $41 million in trailing revenue with 68% gross margins, half the scale of Navitas but at margin profiles 22 points higher than the acquirer's current business.
This matters because hyperscale operators have begun penalizing vendors who cannot deliver integrated power and interconnect solutions at the module level. Meta disclosed in October that thermal and power delivery accounted for 31% of total cost of ownership in its AI clusters, overtaking compute silicon for the first time. Google and Microsoft have each issued RFPs in the past six months requiring co-packaged optics for next-generation AI accelerator deployments beginning in Q3 2025. Navitas now competes directly with Broadcom and Marvell in that procurement cycle, but with a tighter integration between power conversion and optical modules that reduces board space by an estimated 18% and thermal overhead by 240 watts per accelerator node.
The transaction also signals phase two of AI power semiconductor consolidation. Phase one saw horizontal mergers among power IC designers chasing scale in commodity voltage regulation. Phase two moves vertically, collapsing discrete component vendors into module integrators who own more of the signal chain and more of the margin stack. Navitas paid roughly 5.7x trailing revenue for Claros, a 40% premium to the sector median, which prices in expected sole-source positioning with at least one hyperscale customer. That multiple only pencils if Claros has design wins locked for 2026-2027 deployments, meaning this deal insures revenue 18-30 months forward, not speculative TAM.
Operators and allocators should watch for disclosure of customer concentration in Claros's current revenue base, expected within 45 days as part of SEC merger filings. If more than 60% of Claros revenue comes from a single hyperscale customer, the deal becomes a defensive lock-in rather than a growth engine. Watch also for Broadcom's response in the January earnings call, particularly any commentary on co-packaged optics attach rates or pricing pressure in the AI networking segment. Navitas has committed to $15 million in annual cost synergies by the end of fiscal 2026, which implies headcount reduction in overlapping R&D and a shift toward shared module platforms.
The transaction closes in Q2 2025, subject to customary approvals, and positions Navitas as the first pure-play power semiconductor company with a credible co-packaged optics roadmap. The hyperscalers now have one fewer vendor to manage in the AI accelerator supply chain, and Navitas has 18 months to prove the module integration thesis before the next financing window opens.