San Francisco-based Atheros specializes in making wireless chips used in computers and mobile phones. Atheros wants to leverage u-Nav’s GPS technology as part of a strategy to break into the satellite navigation systems market. It plans to sell the technology to customers like Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo Group and Apple.
The acquisition has been approved by both companies and includes $15.4m in cash and the rest in shares. The deal could factor in additional payments to u-Nav shareholders if certain milestones are met. U-Nav is an Irvine, California-based semiconductor firm that employs 54 staff.
The company will face competition in the GPS market from the likes of SiRF Technology Holdings which commands a 70% share of the personal navigation device chip market, which are used in personal navigation device makers including Garmin and TomTom.
