Dutch firm NXP Semiconductors has completed the $1.76 billion acquisition of the wireless connectivity assets of Bermuda chip firm Marvell Technologies.
The cash deal, agreed at the end of May, completed last week; it sees NXP augment its industrial IoT, automotive and communication portfolio with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth ‘combo solutions’ from Marvell.
Marvell posted $300 million in revenue in fiscal 2019; NXP said revenue associated with the acquired assets will double by 2022. Around 550 staff, in various regions, will join NXP.
NXP said it will be able to deliver “complete, scalable” processing and connectivity solutions to its customers in the industrial, automotive and communications markets, with the addition of WiFi 4, 5, 6 and Bluetooth/ BLE. These will be offered alongside its edge computing platforms, including I.MX, Layerscape, Kinetis, LPC and the newly introduced RT Crossover Processors.
Richard Clemmer, chief executive officer at NXP, said: “We can offer our customer base the broadest portfolio of edge solutions which includes tailored security and a full suite of wireless connectivity spanning WiFi, Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy, Zigbee, Thread and NFC.
The company said the deal will help it deliver “secure connections for the smarter world”, and pointed to their application across the connected supply chain.
The deal fills the connectivity gap it had intended to bridge with Qualcomm. It had agreed to merge with the US firm in 2016, in a $38 billion sale, only for the deal to collapse in 2018 after failing to secure Chinese regulatory approval amid the US-China trade war.
NXP is a major supplier to the connected automotive market, where NFC, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and other wireless are increasingly integrated into vehicles for offerings that range from simply pairing smartphones for handsfree use, to the ability to remotely access and lock or unlock a vehicle, and personalized infotainment or internet access for passengers.
