Australian Tech Company, Sensory Networks, Obtained By Intel For 21 Million

On October 1, an Australian technology company announced that they have agreed to be acquired by US computer giant, Intel. Sensory Networks, which creates pattern matching and acceleration software, has agreed to sell for around $US20 million (which converts to about $21.5 million Australian). It is believed that this deal will help take Sensory Networks’ software to new levels.

Whilst Chris Kraeuter, an Intel spokesman, has only confirmed the deal, the chief technology officer at Sensory Networks, Geoff Langdale, has said that the company is “happy to be in the process of closing a deal with Intel” and that their “products are the result of years of hard work by the whole team and (they’re) proud of what (they’ve) done so far.”

 

The pattern matching and acceleration software created by Sensory Networks is used in firewalls and to detect email spam and viruses, among a number of other uses. Co-founder, Matt Barrie, said that “the technology is probably some of the best that Australia has ever produced”, so it isn’t any wonder why Intel would like to make use of it in their own products.

It is also expected that all of Sensory Networks’ employees will join Intel as a part of the acquisition. There are currently 5 employees at the company, all but one of whom are based in Australia (Sab Gosal, the chief executive, is based in the US). Many of the employees are expected to benefit greatly from the Intel deal because they hold employee share options.

The co-founders, who have since left Sensory Networks, are also expected to benefit from the deal. Matt Barrie (who left to found Freelancer.com) started the company in 2003 with Nicholas de Jong and Darren Williams (who both now work at Freelancer) and Stephen Gould (who is now a senior lecturer at the Australian National University).