Qualcomm has reached an agreement to acquire Atheros Communications, a wireless technology company that produces WiFi and Bluetooth products. The deal values Atheros at $3.1 billion and is expected to be completed by the middle of the year. Both companies have worked together for several years.
Dr Paul E Jacobs, chairman and CEO of Qualcomm, said “It is Qualcomm’s strategy to continually integrate additional technologies into mobile devices to make them the primary way that people communicate, compute and access content. This acquisition is a natural extension of that strategy into other types of devices. The combination of Qualcomm and Atheros is intended to accelerate this opportunity by utilizing best-in-class products for communications, computing and consumer electronics to broaden existing customer relationships and expand access to new partners and distribution channels.”
Atheros’ president and CEO, Dr Craig H Barratt, is expected to join Qualcomm as president of Qualcomm Networking & Connectivity.