MaxLinear Inc. said May 9 that it agreed to buy the wireless infrastructure backhaul business from Broadcom Corp. for $80 million in cash.
The announcement comes less than two weeks after MaxLinear (NYSE: MXL) announced it was acquiring assets from Microsemi Corp. for $21 million in cash. It also assumed some of Microsemi’s liabilities.
MaxLinear also announced first quarter earnings on May 9. It reported net income of $19.1 million on net revenue of $102.7 million. In the first quarter of 2015, the business reported a net loss of $4.7 million on net revenue of $35.4 million.
Carlsbad-based MaxLinear has been growing by acquisition. It also acquired chipmaker Entropic Communications slightly more than a year ago.
The Broadcom deal is the latest in a string of acquisitions. That sale continues to trim the Irvine operation of Broadcom, which is now based in Singapore and has its U.S. headquarters in San Jose. The wireless infrastructure backhaul business employed about 120 people and posted sales of nearly $30 million last year.
Broadcom has slashed more than 700 employees at its Irvine campus since Broadcom Corp. was sold for $37 billion to Avago Technologies Inc. in February, creating the world’s third largest chipmaker, with annual sales of about $15 billion.
The latest cash buy builds on MaxLinear’s developing microwave backhaul RF transceiver business that often relies on wireless connections if fiber optics isn’t available to push through data and calling services from cell phone or radio towers.
