During its earnings call yesterday, Qorvo announced it will pay some $500 million to acquire two companies: Decawave, a technology play in ultra-wideband (UWB) for mobile applications, and Custom MMIC, a complementary addition to its defense segment.
Qorvo CFO Mark Murphy said more than three-quarters of the $500 million will be for Decawave, the remainder for Custom MMIC. The deals, which were signed during the current quarter, are expected to close in February. Qorvo will pay for them with cash.
Decawave
Decawave, headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, develops UWB technology for the emerging market for real-time micro-location services. Decawave’s offerings include ICs, modules, software and reference designs. It will become part of Qorvo’s Mobile Products business.
Eric Creviston, Mobile Products president, said although UWB in handsets is an emerging market, “we believe it will eventually be absolutely required in every handset.” He said the use of UWB for mobile and automotive applications, such as keyless entry, will create a $2 billion to $4 billion market by 2024.
“We are absolutely thrilled to be adding Decawave, a fantastic company. Great people, great technology. They’ve been at this 15 years, really truly pioneered the technology,” said Creviston.
Murphy described the Decawave acquisition as a technology investment “that’s going to take time to develop, and it’s largely immaterial revenue and dilutive.”
Custom MMIC
Custom MMIC, formed by Paul Blount in 2006 and based in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, is a fabless semiconductor firm supplying high performance MMICs, largely for defense and space programs. The company has a catalog of some 200 GaAs and GaN MMIC products, introducing a company record of 39 new products last year. Read Microwave Journal’s profile published in the June 2019 issue.
Custom MMIC’s catalog and design talent will add to Qorvo’s Infrastructure and Defense Products (IDP) segment.
“Custom MMIC is a defense bolt-on, very easy to integrate, right in James’ (James Klein, IDP president) wheelhouse on defense products, advanced technology defense products,” said Murphy.
He said the business is accretive and will contribute about $3 million in revenue during the March quarter, with a near-term run rate of some $5 million per quarter.
