Xilinx to Buy Solarflare Communications in Data Center Push (2)

Xilinx Inc. agreed to acquire Solarflare Communications Inc., adding networking capabilities as it tries to make products that are more attractive to operators of large data centers.

Closely held Solarflare makes hardware and software used by financial institutions and exchanges to reduce response time in their computer networks. By combining Solarflare’s products with its programmable chips, Xilinx hopes to exploit a growing interest in its technology from providers of cloud services such as Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp.

Xilinx is paying about $400 million for Solarflare, according to people familiar with the transaction. They asked not to be identified because ...