Japanese chip giant Renesas Electronics Corp. announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Israeli Wi-Fi chipset solutions developer Celeno Communications in an all cash deal for $315 million including milestone payments, Trend reports with reference to Globes.
Renesas said that the deal has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies and should close by the end of calendar year 2021, subject to customary closing conditions.
Headquartered in Ra'anana, Celeno has developed a wide range of wireless communication solutions, including advanced Wi-Fi chipsets and software solutions, for high-performance home networks, smart buildings, enterprise and industrial markets. Celeno produces the industry’s most compact chipset offerings for Wi-Fi 6 and 6E deliver strong Wi-Fi network performance and increased security with low latency and low power consumption.
Renesas said that Celeno’s field-proven Wi-Fi and software capabilities are highly complementary to it and bring a combination that creates comprehensive, end-to-end embedded solutions for addressing the fast-growing markets for low-power connectivity in IoT, infrastructure, industrial and automotive applications.
In addition to expanding the solution offering, the acquisition also increases Renesas’ engineering and design scale with Celeno’s design center in Israel and by welcoming R&D staff based in Israel, Ukraine, India, China, Taiwan and more.
Renesas CEO Hidetoshi Shibata said, "The transaction announced today underscores our continuous commitment to improve performance and efficiency in electronic systems. Building on our recently-expanded connectivity portfolio following the Dialog acquisition, the addition of Celeno provides us with more advanced Wi-Fi connectivity capabilities to deliver end-to-end connectivity solutions for both clients and access points. Renesas is now strongly positioned to capitalize on the growing opportunities from the massive rise in connectivity and requirements created by today’s increasingly connected world."
Celeno president and CEO Gilad Rozen added, "This is a compelling transaction for both our customers and employees. Our depth and strength in connectivity combined with Renesas’ industry leading portfolio of embedded solutions will allow us, together, to open up new growth areas we can target. Renesas will also provide us with the go-to-market capabilities to bring Celeno to a broader range of customers."
Celeno was founded in 2005 by Rozen and investors include Poalim Capital Markets, OurCrowd, Liberty Global, Cisco, Pitango Venture Capital, 83North, Vintage Investment Partners, and Miven.