Adaptec, Inc., was a computer storage company and remains a brand for computer storage products. The company was an independent firm from 1981 to 2010, at which point it was acquired by PMC-Sierra, which itself was later acquired by Microsemi, which itself was later acquired by Microchip Technology.
Larry Boucher, Wayne Higashi, and Bernard Nieman founded Adaptec in 1981.[2] At first, Adaptec focused on devices with Parallel SCSI interfaces. Popular host bus adapters included the 154x/15xx ISA family, the 2940 PCI family, and the 29160/-320 family. Their cross-platform ASPI was an early API for accessing and integrating non-disk devices like tape drives, scanners and optical disks. With advancements in technology, RAID functions were added while interfaces evolved to PCIe and SAS.
Adaptec made a number of acquisitions in the mid-1990s to expand their reach in the SCSI peripheral market. In March 1993, they acquired Trantor Systems Ltd. of Fremont, California, for $10 million.[3] In July 1995, they acquired Future Domain Corporation of Irvine, California, for $25 million.[4]
On May 10, 2010, PMC-Sierra, Inc. and Adaptec, Inc. announced they had entered into a definitive agreement of PMC-Sierra acquiring Adaptec's channel storage business on May 8, 2010, which included Adaptec's RAID storage product line, the Adaptec brand, a global value added reseller customer base, board logistics capabilities, and SSD cache performance solutions.[5] The transaction was expected to close in approximately 30 days, subject to customary closing conditions.[6] Following the sale, Adaptec would retain its Aristos ASIC technology business, certain real estate assets, more than 200 patents, and approximately $400 million in cash and marketable securities.[7][8]
On June 8, 2010, PMC-Sierra and Adaptec announced the completion of the acquisition.[9][10] PMC-Sierra renamed the channel storage business "Adaptec by PMC". PMC-Sierra was in turn acquired by Microsemi in January 2016.[11]
The old Adaptec, Inc. changed its name to ADPT Corporation,[12] and then again to Steel Excel, Inc.[13] Steel Excel is now an investment firm.
^Hunt, Laura (August 16, 1999). "1981". Technology Flashback. Computerworld. IDG Enterprise. p. 72. ISSN0010-4841. Retrieved May 13, 2014 – via Google Books. 1981 [...] Larry Boucher founds Adaptec Inc.
