Qualcomm in IoT Play with $2.5B CSR Purchase

Mobile chip giant Qualcomm (QCOM), a founding member of the AllSeen Alliance that aims to establish an open source framework for all manner of objects communicating with each other in the Internet of Things (IoT), said it will acquire CSR, a Cambridge, U.K., Bluetooth specialist, for $2.5 billion in cash.

CSR, which designs but doesn’t build chips used in mobile devices and other equipment such as satellite navigation systems, also was being wooed by microcontroller maker Microchip Technology in a separate buyout bid. Qualcomm said CSR’s technology, used in wireless mobile device headsets, will strengthen its existing IoT portfolio, including the embryonic wearables segment.

“The addition of CSR’s technology leadership in Bluetooth, Bluetooth Smart and audio processing will strengthen Qualcomm’s position in providing critical solutions that drive the rapid growth of the Internet of Everything, including the business areas such as portable audio, automotive and wearable devices,” said Steven Mollenkopf, Qualcomm’s chief executive.

“Combining CSR’s highly advanced offering of connectivity technologies with a strong track record of success in these areas will unlock new opportunities for growth,” he said. “We look forward to working with the innovative CSR team globally and further strengthening our technology presence in Cambridge and the U.K.”

Qualcomm, which maintains some 400 employees in the United Kingdom, will retain CSR’s operations in Cambridge, according to a Financial Times report. At this point, there’s no word on the ultimate disposition of CSR’s 2,130 employees housed in 11 countries nor how integration of the two companies will work.

Joep van Beurden, CSR’s chief executive, said the deal “is a ringing endorsement of CSR’s product, technology and our team. If you look at the overall lay of the land in the semiconductor industry, it is very important to have scale, and with this transaction we’ve achieved that.”

The deal, which requires regulatory approval, is expected to close by the summer of 2015.