Qualcomm and NXP have entered into a difinitive agreement, which will see the chip maker swallow up the semiconductor firm.
The decision was announced today, following a unanimous decision from both boards. Qualcomm intends to offer NXP shareholders $110 per share in cash, which will equate to a total purchase price of about $47 billion.
While Qualcomm is a specialist in mobile technology, particularly making chips for smartphones, NXP operates in slightly different areas, including secure identification, network processing and, notably, automotive.
This latter category includes advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), such as collision avoidance, body and networking, secure access, telematics and other connectivity. It also has a presence in IoT.
Steve Mollenkopf, CEO of Qualcomm, said in a statement: "With innovation and invention at our core, Qualcomm has played a critical role in driving the evolution of the mobile industry. The NXP acquisition accelerates our strategy to extend our leading mobile technology into robust new opportunities, where we will be well positioned to lead by delivering integrated semiconductor solutions at scale.
"Our companies both have substantial expertise in delivering industry-leading solutions to our global customers, built upon a shared commitment to technology innovation, focused R&D investments and strong financial and operational discipline."
Rick Clemmer, NXP's CEO, added: "The combination of Qualcomm and NXP will bring together all technologies required to realize our vision of secure connections for the smarter world, combining advanced computing and ubiquitous connectivity with security and high performance mixed-signal solutions including microcontrollers.
"Jointly we will be able to provide more complete solutions which will allow us to further enhance our leadership positions, and expand the already strong partnerships with our broad customer base, especially in automotive, consumer and industrial IoT and device level security."
