Broadcom agreed to acquire LTE-related assets from affiliates of Renesas Electronics Corporation for approximately $164 million in cash.
Broadcom is gaining a dual-core LTE SoC that is ready for volume production and is carrier-validated by leading global operators in North America, Japan and Europe. Broadcom also receives high-quality multimode, multiband, LTE-A/HSPA+/EDGE modem IP that includes support for leading-edge features such as Carrier Aggregation and VoLTE. The acquisition adds quality patents and applications to Broadcom’s IP portfolio and brings some of the world’s most experienced cellular engineers to Broadcom.
Broadcom said the deal will accelerate the launch of its first multimode, carrier-validated LTE SoC platform, which is now expected in early 2014.
“Today’s transaction firmly establishes Broadcom’s presence in the rapidly growing LTE market with a production-ready, carrier-validated SoC,” said Scott McGregor, President and CEO of Broadcom. “Our LTE platform will leverage Broadcom’s rich connectivity portfolio and will deliver an optimized feature set for this fast growing market.”
Broadcom also updated its business outlook for the three months ending September 30, 2013. The company now expects revenue between $2.075 billion and $2.175 billion; GAAP and non-GAAP product gross margins to be up roughly 50 to 100 basis points; and GAAP and non-GAAP research and development, and selling, general and administrative expenses to be somewhat above the high-end of the previously guided range of down ~$5 million to up ~$15 million and flat to up ~$20 million, respectively.
