Qualcomm to Acquire Atheros for $3.1 Billion
Mobile tech company Qualcomm and Atheros Communications have announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement whereby Qualcomm intends to acquire Atheros, a leading player in wireless technologies and wired local area connectivity in the computing, networking and consumer electronics industries.
The acquisition is intended to help accelerate the expansion of Qualcomm’s technologies and platforms to new businesses beyond cellular and provide access to new growth opportunities.
[ Also Read: Uplinq 2011 Wireless Ecosystem Conference ]Qualcomm has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase Atheros for $45 per share in cash, representing an enterprise value of $3.1 billion.
The transaction has been approved by the Qualcomm and Atheros boards of directors and is subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of domestic and foreign regulatory approvals and the approval of Atheros’ stockholders.
The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2011. Excluding amortization of acquired intangibles, Qualcomm expects the acquisition to be modestly accretive to earnings per share in fiscal year 2012, the first full year of combined operations.
[ Also Read: How Lync Enables You to Link with Others ]Qualcomm intends to finalize its estimates of the transaction’s financial impact, as well as the accounting for the transaction, upon deal close.
“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,” said Dr. Paul E. Jacobs, chairman and CEO of Qualcomm.
Atheros’ current president and CEO, Dr. Craig H. Barratt, is expected to join Qualcomm as president of Qualcomm Networking & Connectivity.
Qualcomm made the announcement Wednesday, Jan. 5.
