Qualcomm acquires Ikanos, sets sights on wireless carrier market

Qualcomm Atheros has acquired Ikanos Communications for an estimated $47 million, with the transaction to be completed at the end of this year.

Atheros is the Qualcomm subsidiary that specialises in semiconductors for network communications - namely wireless chipsets.

Ikanos is a high performance broadband networking semiconductor and software provider, enabling both central office and home gateway solutions.

Qualcomm Atheros will acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of common stock of Ikanos for $2.75 per share in cash, and assume all outstanding indebtedness at the closing of the transaction, according to a statement.

The acquisition is intended to expand Qualcomm Atheros' footprint in the carrier fixed line segment with the addition of high performance broadband access and modem technologies critical to enhancing users' connected experiences in the home.

The home gateway extends Qualcomm Atheros' carrier Wi-Fi and wired connectivity portfolio, while providing a central hub for Internet of Everything (IoE) enabled devices, services and 3G/LTE small cells.

Ikanos' board of directors has unanimously approved the transaction and recommends the offer to Ikanos stockholders, according to Qualcomm.

The transaction is expected to close before the end of this year and is subject to customary closing conditions, including a minimum tender of a majority of outstanding shares of Ikanos and regulatory clearances in certain non-US jurisdictions.

"Qualcomm Atheros has always viewed the home gateway as the enabler for consumers to not only access the internet for browsing and downloading content and video streaming, but also as the hub of the internet in the home for a variety of reliable and high quality services," says Rahul Patel, Qualcomm Technologies senior vice president and general manager, connectivity.

"The combination of Qualcomm Atheros' broad home gateway IP portfolio, including Wi-Fi, powerline, small cell, and Ethernet switch technologies, and Ikanos' advanced wired modem technology, is designed to create a complete solution for a wide range of home gateway products to better serve the carrier segment.

The acquisition of Ikanos provides Qualcomm Atheros access to a wide array of leading technologies, including A/VDSL2 and G.fast modem technology and chipsets for consumer premises equipment (CPE) and central office (CO) infrastructure.

Ikanos also offers multi-mode gateway processor and accelerator technology for fibre, LTE, Ethernet and hybrid-copper applications.

In addition, Ikanos inSIGHT software allows remote diagnosis, management and optimisation of the broadband connection and quality-of-service, and voice over IP (VoIP) integrated access devices and bridges.

Ikanos' strong central office product portfolio, as well as its technology collaboration with Alcatel-Lucent in the area of fixed access communications, enables Qualcomm Atheros to offer a strong product portfolio in the ultra-broadband access space, including G.fast.

"Qualcomm Atheros and Ikanos have a long history of collaboration in the carrier space and share a common vision for the connected home.

"Bringing the two companies together enables Qualcomm Atheros to accelerate implementation of its strategy for the connected home, and to move the home gateway forward as a key enabler for new carrier applications and services," says Omid Tahernia, Ikanos president and chief executive officer.