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CSR and SiRF combine forces for Bluetooth and GPS
If I was to ask you for the name of a GPS component maker the one name that springs to mind is SiRF. For many years now SiRF have set the standard by which other GPS chipsets are measured.
Earlier this week I received a Press Release from CSR (Cambridge Silicon Radio) announcing "*CSR and SiRF* *combine forces for Bluetooth and GPS market leadership". Now I had not heard of CSR until CES this year when Lutz went to talk to them about their chipsets, and all of a sudden they are merging with SiRF.
The way I read the Press Release is that CSR are taking over SiRF, I have fired of some questions to clarify the position, and hopefully will interview CSR at Mobile World Congress next week.
This is the full Press Release from CSR:
This is an edited version of CSR?s regulatory press release, which can
be viewed here: http://www.csr.com/SiRF-0209
*CSR and SiRF* *combine forces for Bluetooth and GPS market leadership
*--/Strengthens CSR?s leadership position in the Connectivity Center/
*Cambridge, UK ? February 10, 2009 ?* CSR (LSE: CSR) and SiRF (NASDAQ:
SIRF) today entered into a conditional agreement under which SiRF will
merge with CSR, increasing the scale of CSR in the high-growth GPS
technology market and strengthening CSR''s position as a global leader in
both Bluetooth and GPS.
SiRF is a market leader in GPS semiconductors with strong hardware,
software and systems. SiRF''s significant GPS and assisted GPS (A-GPS)
patent portfolio complements CSR''s extensive patent portfolio in eGPS.
The combined strengths of SiRF and CSR will drive forward the innovation
of new chips incorporating GPS and position the enlarged CSR group to be
able to take a substantial share of the fast growing GPS market in
mobile devices. CSR estimates the GPS attach rate to be around 20% of
mobile handsets in 2008 and this is expected to double by 2012.
Bluetooth and GPS are two core segments of CSR''s Connectivity Center and
this transaction accelerates CSR''s strategy by adding a GPS solution
that already has considerable traction with leading tier one customers.
The two companies'' complementary customer relationships also enable
cross-selling of GPS and Bluetooth.
CSR?s Connectivity Center strategy exploits the high attach rates of its
Bluetooth technology, integrating additional value-added technologies
into its subsystem. CSR?s pioneering technique and /Smart Integration
/approach allows different technologies to share resources and improve
coexistence between radios, giving excellent end user experience. SiRF?s
GPS technologies will enable CSR to accelerate its strategic goals for
the Connectivity Center.
Following completion of the transaction,
- SiRF shareholders will receive 0.741 of an ordinary share in
CSR for each SiRF share
- SiRF shareholders will own 27% of the enlarged CSR group
- The boards of both CSR and SiRF unanimously endorse the transaction
- SiRF''s Diosdado P. Banatao and Kanwar Chadha will be invited to
join the CSR Board as Non-Executive Director and Executive Director
respectively
- The merger is expected to complete late in the second quarter
of 2009
CSR CEO Joep van Beurden commented, ?Financially, strategically and
commercially, this is a compelling transaction. We expect it to be
significantly earnings accretive, to enhance the enlarged group?s
financial strength and cash position and to create new and wider revenue
opportunities that neither party on its own could pursue as effectively.
Strategically, this deal considerably strengthens our leadership
position in the Connectivity Center; a strategy which we believe
encapsulates the way our marketplace is developing. Commercially, there
is a powerful, complementary fit between the technologies, skill sets
and customer relationships of both companies and the way we both see
our customers? needs evolving. Together we create a group substantially
better placed both to meet the challenges of today and to emerge even
stronger from the current challenging market conditions. This
transaction is an exciting opportunity for shareholders, employees and
customers.?
*Information on SiRF*
SiRF, inc. (NASDAQ: SIRF) develops and markets multifunction location
platforms based on semiconductor and software products that are designed
to enable location-awareness utilizing GPS and other location
technologies, enhanced by wireless connectivity and multimedia
capabilities for high-volume mobile consumer devices and commercial
applications. Founded in 1995, SiRF is listed on the NASDAQ National
Market under the ticker symbol "SIRF", and has its headquarters in San
Jose, California.
SiRF?s technology has been integrated into a wide range of mobile
consumer devices such as automobile navigation and telematics systems,
PNDs, mobile phones, mobile computers, mobile internet devices, handheld
and wearable GPS recreational devices, digital cameras and camcorders,
mobile gaming devices, child and pet trackers, GPS-based peripherals as
well as into commercial applications such as logistics management
systems, enterprise and carrier LBS servers, asset tracking devices and
fleet management systems.
SiRF generated revenues of $232 million in 2008, and had gross assets of
$195 million as of December 27 2008
*About CSR***
CSR is a leading global provider of wireless voice and data
communications focusing on the Connectivity Center and its product
portfolio covers Bluetooth, GPS, FM and Wi-Fi (IEEE802.11). CSR offers
developed hardware/software solutions based around its silicon platforms
that incorporate fully integrated radio and microcontroller elements.
CSR?s customers include industry leaders such as Audi, Ford, LG,
Motorola, NEC, Nokia, Panasonic, RIM, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, TomTom and
Toshiba. CSR has its headquarters and offices in Cambridge, UK, and
offices in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, India, France, Denmark, Sweden
and both Dallas and Detroit in the USA.
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