World News: NXP acquires GloNav for $85m
Europe-based NXP Semiconductors has announced that it will acquire US-based GloNav for US$25 million in cash plus a cash payment of up to US$25 million based on GloNav’s performance over the next two years.
GloNav develops single-chip solutions for GPS and other satellite navigation systems. The company has approximately 50 employees and contractors at locations in the US, UK, Ireland, and Taiwan, who will join NXP's Mobile & Personal Business Unit.
The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2008, subject to regulatory approvals.
This is NXP’s second major acquisition within a year; the company bought the Cellular Communications Business from Silicon Laboratories in February 2007 for US$285 million.
“Combining GloNav's GPS expertise with NXP’s FM Radio, Bluetooth, USB and NFC leadership, enables us to offer a broader connectivity suite to the mobile phone market,” commented NXP’s CEO, Frans van Houten.
By 2010, approximately 40% of mobile phones (around 560 million) will be GPS-equipped. “We already turned the cell phone into a multimedia wallet,” commented van Houten. “It’s only natural that we also want to use our mobile phones to navigate and to find local goods and services.”
GloNav has a significant intellectual property portfolio and more than twenty years of technology heritage in developing silicon-based GPS solutions. Through this acquisition, NXP will be able to access GloNav's single chip and 90nm capability to establish a strong presence in the fast growing GPS market in both personal navigation devices and mobile phones, and further strengthen its capability to offer functionally rich, integrated cellular solutions for its mobile customers.
In return, GloNav CEO Bill McLean pointed out that the acquisition will give GloNav access to NXP’s customer base, which includes all the leading handset and device manufacturers.
