Chip maker Broadcom on Tuesday said it made an unsolicited offer to acquire storage networking company Emulex for $764 million in cash.

The $9.25 per share offer represents a 40 percent premium over Monday’s closing price of Emulex stock.  

Irvine, California-based Broadcom, best known for its wireless chips, is hoping to exploit a wave of technology integration currently taking place in the modern IT data center.

On Monday, Oracle said it will acquire Sun Microsystems for $7.4 billion, and less than two weeks ago Cisco announced its plans to acquire Tidal Software, a 30-year-old IT software company. (Oracle Snares Sun and Cisco Engulfs Tidal Software for $105M)

Like Tidal Software, Emulex of Costa Mesa, California, is a mature company at age 30, but companies such as Cisco and Broadcom are moving toward the integration of the separate elements of the IT data center including servers, networking, and storage.

By combining its expertise in network silicon and Emulex’s capabilities in networked storage, Broadcom expects the merged firm will be able to market larger, more innovative pieces of the converging data center.

Broadcom also expects the acquisition to boost both companies’ revenues and open new distribution channels.

On Tuesday Broadcom also announced its first quarter financial data. The company posted a $91.9 million loss compared with net income of $74.3 million a year earlier. Net revenue for the quarter was $853.4 million, a decrease from the $1.032 billion reported a year ago.

Broadcom’s shares fell $1.71 to $20.08 in Tuesday trading while Emulex’s shares jumped $2.81 to $9.42.