Cellular technology giant Qualcomm announced on Jan. 5 that it will acquire wireless networking firm Atheros Communications as it seeks to expand operations.
Qualcomm said it will pay $45 per share in cash, or a total value of 3.1 billion. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2011.
Atheros Communications specializes in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connection technology.
"The acquisition is intended to help accelerate the expansion of Qualcomm's technologies and platforms to new businesses beyond cellular and provide access to significant new growth opportunities," the statement said.
"It is Qualcomm's strategy to continually integrate additional technologies into mobile devices to make them the primary way that people communicate, compute and access content," said Qualcomm chief officer Paul Jacobs.
"This acquisition is a natural extension of that strategy into other types of devices," he said.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2011
