Qorvo is acquiring privately-held GreenPeak Technologies, a fabless semiconductor company that specializes in ultra-low power, short range, RF communications. The acquisition gives Qorvo a beachhead in the Internet of Things (IoT) market, including the connected home.

GreenPeak brings Qorvo capabilities in highly integrated, silicon RF systems-on-a-chip (SoC), including 802.15.4 and Zigbee. In 2015, GreenPeak shipped its 100 millionth ZigBee chip to the smart home market. The company has developed proprietary antenna diversity and multiple receiver architectures that enhance range, robustness and Wi-Fi interference rejection. Their reference designs enable quick time to market for smart home and IoT applications.

In a press release, Qorvo said that the companies have signed a definitive agreement and expect the deal to close this quarter, after successful completion of "customary closing conditions." Terms of the deal were not disclosed. GreenPeak will become part of Qorvo's infrastructure and defense products (IDP) segment. Cees Links, founder and CEO of GreenPeak, will continue leading GreenPeak and will report to James Klein, president of IDP.

GreenPeak was formed in July of 2007 through the merger of the Dutch company Xanadu Wireless and the Belgian firm Ubiwave. The company, privately funded, is headquartered in Utrecht, The Netherlands, and has offices in Belgium and Hong Kong.

James Klein said, "The acquisition of GreenPeak Technologies will complement Qorvo's market-leading high power RF portfolio with innovative, ultra-low power, short-range wireless personal area network (WPAN) SoCs, ZigBee and Bluetooth solutions. GreenPeak brings a world-class technical team and solutions to Qorvo, allowing us to increase our presence in the rapidly expanding IoT market."

Cees Links, founder and CEO of GreenPeak Technologies, said, "Our team is excited to join Qorvo and continue our legacy of creating ultra-low power RF solutions for our customers. We believe Qorvo will be a great environment for the GreenPeak team to grow as part of a much larger company serving many more global customers."

According to research firm Gartner, smart home networking and IoT markets addressed by 802.15.4, ZigBee and Bluetooth low energy (BLE) technology are estimated to grow to $2.3 billion by 2020. Related smart markets such as retail, agriculture, automotive, lifestyle and commercial lighting are expected to grow to $4.9 billion by 2020.