Qorvo has acquired Cavendish Kinetics (CK), a supplier of RF switch products using MEMS technology to achieve low insertion loss, high isolation and small size.

According to Qorvo, Cavendish is the leading provider of high performance RF MEMS for antenna tuning in mobile handsets. Qorvo plans to adopt Cavendish’s products and use its MEMS technology in its own product lines, ramping the technology to high volume for the mobile device market.

RF MEMS devices are widely used to tune smartphone antennas and provide low insertion loss, high Q and good linearity, key parameters for the complex front-ends in LTE and 5G phones.

“Several of the world's leading smartphone suppliers have validated significant improvements in antenna performance through lower losses and higher linearity delivered by CK's RF MEMS technology. Qorvo will build on the great work CK has done by optimizing and scaling the technology and applying it to other applications like infrastructure and defense." — Eric Creviston, president of Qorvo’s mobile products segment

The Deal

Qorvo did not disclose the purchase price for CK, saying it will provide more information about the deal during its upcoming earnings call. The company was privately held, with Qorvo and Qualcomm strategic investors, Qorvo since 2015.

According to PitchBook, Cavendish Kinetics was formed in 1994 and raised initial funding of $130,000 in 1997. The company has raised funding through nine rounds, most recently in 2017.