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Broadcom acquires Athena Semiconductors
By siliconindia staff writer
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Monday, 10 October 2005, 19:30 IST
IRVINE, CA: Wired and wireless broadband communication semiconductor maker Broadcom Corporation has acquired Athena Semiconductors, founded by Chandrashekhar Reddy, for $26.1 million.
Athena is a fabless semiconductor company that specializes in the design and development of mobile digital television tuner and low-power Wi-Fi technology, two markets of interest to Broadcom. Chandrashekhar M. Reddy, Prathap G. Reddy and Dr Surendar S. Magar founded Athena Semiconductors.
"Mobile television is a very exciting technology, and we expect that by combining Athena's DVB-H tuner with Broadcom's mobile multimedia technology for H.264 decoding, we will create the core of an industry-leading mobile digital TV chipset," said Robert Rango, Senior Vice President & General Manager of Broadcom's Mobile & Wireless Group. "In addition, Athena brings low-power Wi-Fi design capabilities and a seasoned engineering team with a proven track record whose expertise complements Broadcom's existing engineering resources."
"Athena's DVB-H technology complements Broadcom's mobile multimedia product line and our Wi-Fi experience will enable faster-time-to-market for key low-power Wi-Fi chips," said Pratap G. Reddy, President, Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder of Athena Semiconductors. "We are looking forward to the opportunity to combine our resources with those of the existing Broadcom team to drive these key products to market."
Athena Semiconductors is headquartered in Fremont, California with highly experienced design teams in Bangalore, India and Athens, Greece. The group in India consists of 40 engineers, and the team in Greece consists of 23 engineers. The addition of the India team to Broadcom's workforce represents a key step in achieving the company's continuing goal of expanding its presence in India.
In connection with the acquisition, Broadcom expects to pay approximately $21.6 million in cash in exchange for all outstanding shares of Athena capital stock and other rights of Athena. A portion of the consideration payable to the stockholders of Athena will be placed into escrow pursuant to the terms of the acquisition agreement.