SiRF Technology acquires TrueSpan

By agencies   |   Wednesday, 22 March 2006, 20:30 IST
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BANGALORE: GPS chipmaker SiRF Technology Holdings has acquired TrueSpan Semiconductor, a U.S.-based silicon design company with a research and development team in Bangalore. The fact that TrueSpan had a team in Bangalore clinched the deal, said Kanwar Chadha, founder and member of board of directors, SiRF Technology. However he did not disclosed the size of the deal. In a year, this is the fourth acquisition of the Nasdaq-listed firm. Prior to this, the company had acquired a Swedish RF design company, Kisel Microelectronics AB and Motorola's GPS division (for $20 million in cash). In January, the Bangalore-based ImpulseSoft was acquired in a cash-n-stock deal worth $14.65 million. The company will continue to look at “new and interesting technology” companies to acquire, said Chadha, adding, "Acquisitions are a clear part of our strategy." While ImpulseSoft employed 50 engineers, TrueSpan had a headcount of 30. The two teams will be combined, he said. With the acquisition, SiRF will have flexibility in its "silicon hiring" (recruiting hardware engineers) with a choice of Noida and Bangalore, he said. "The previous acquisition brought expertise in software and algorithms, while this one brought in communications systems, drivers and baseband research. Now, SiRF has a complete range of inter-related products for the consumer, PC and mobile space," Chadha added. This acquisition enables SiRF to leverage TrueSpan's research in mobile TV. According to analysts, there will be 74 million subscribers to TV-on-your-mobile by the end of the decade. Bharti Telecom is conducting trials, informed Chadha, which will take off once DVB (digital video broadcast, a standard for broadcast of video content) infrastructure is deployed. This will happen in the second half of 2007 in India, he added.