Magma Expands Worldwide Licensing Agreement with NEC Electronics -- Wi

    Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

    SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 18, 2005--Magma(R) Design Automation Inc. (Nasdaq:LAVA), a provider of semiconductor design software, today announced that it has expanded its relationship with NEC Electronics (TOKYO:6723), a leading supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions. Under the terms of the new, multi-year license agreement, NEC Electronics will expand its deployment of Magma software and the two companies will collaborate on several technology development initiatives, including integrated circuits (ICs) at the 65-nanometer node and beyond.
    This agreement builds on an engagement announced in 2004 in which NEC Electronics began deploying Magma's complete line of IC implementation software, including Blast Create(TM), Blast Plan(TM), Blast Fusion(R), Blast Rail(TM) and Blast Noise(R), to its worldwide design teams and design centers. NEC Electronics has already successfully implemented numerous designs using the Magma software. Based on the timing, area, power and turnaround time improvements that have been achieved, NEC Electronics will significantly increase its use of the Magma software.
    "Magma's unique approach to IC implementation -- true concurrent optimization with a unified data model and a single executable architecture -- has enabled our design teams to complete many difficult designs in a short time and meet our customers' requirements," said Kazu Yamada, associate vice president, Technology Foundation Development Operations Unit, NEC Electronics Corporation. "We are achieving higher productivity and producing better-quality chips."
    "We are very pleased to be expanding our partnership with NEC Electronics," said Mehrdad Shahabi, president of Magma Japan Ltd. "We are also pleased with the rapid rate of adoption of our technology at NEC Electronics design centers and design teams. We are committed to providing the best technology to meet their challenging requirements and the best engineering support to assure full adoption."

    About Magma

    Magma provides leading software for designing highly complex integrated circuits while maximizing Quality of Results with respect to area, timing and power, and at the same time reducing overall design cycles and costs. Magma provides a complete RTL-to-GDSII design flow that includes prototyping, synthesis, place & route, and signal and power integrity chip design capabilities in a single executable, offering "The Fastest Path from RTL to Silicon"(TM). Magma's software also includes products for advanced physical synthesis and architecture development tools for programmable logic devices (PLDs); capacitance extraction; and characterization and modeling. The company's stock trades on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol LAVA. Visit Magma Design Automation on the Web at www.magma-da.com and www.magma-da.co.jp.

    Blast Fusion, Blast Noise, Magma and SiliconSmart are registered trademarks, and Blast Create, Blast Plan, Blast Rail and "The Fastest Path from RTL to Silicon" are trademarks, of Magma Design Automation Inc. All other product and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

    FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS:

    Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release, including statements about the features and benefits of Magma's system, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially including, but not limited to, NEC Electronics Corporation's decision to continue using Magma's software, Magma's ability to keep pace with rapidly changing technology and its products' abilities to produce desired results. Further discussion of these and other potential risk factors may be found in the parties' latest filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission on form 10-K, and any subsequent updates thereto on form 10-Q. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. The parties disclaim any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

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CONTACT: Magma Design Automation Inc. Monica Marmie, 408-565-7689 monical@magma-da.com or Magma Japan Ltd. Sumiko Miida, +81-45-470-9008 miida@magma-da.com

KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA JAPAN INTERNATIONAL ASIA PACIFIC INDUSTRY KEYWORD: MANUFACTURING NETWORKING HARDWARE SOFTWARE COMPUTERS/ELECTRONICS PRODUCT MARKETING AGREEMENTS EDA SOURCE: Magma Design Automation Inc.

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