Qualcomm Inc. acquired the remaining shares of RF360 Holdings Singapore Pte. Ltd. for $1.15 billion. Qualcomm and Japan-based TDK Corp. launched RF360 through a joint venture in early 2017. The total purchase price, including Qualcomm’s initial investment, payments to TDK and development obligations, is roughly $3.1 billion.
RF360 builds RF front-end (RFFE) filters, which reduce noise from other signals. The Munich-based company employed 4,000 people when it was formed in 2017. Qualcomm said the acquisition would allow it to offer 5G solutions from the modem to the antenna.
The deal will bring more than 20 years of experience in RFFE filtering in-house, and will give Qualcomm one of the broadest portfolios of RFFE products, the company said. Since the new 5G standard allows phones to tap into a wider range of spectrum, including high-frequency millimeter wave spectrum, Qualcomm expects the acquired RFFE technology will help it win future design bids with smartphone manufacturers.
“Our goal in the formation of this joint venture was to enhance Qualcomm Technologies’ front-end solutions to enable us to deliver a truly complete solution to the mobile device ecosystem, and we have done exactly that,” Qualcomm President Cristiano Amon said in a news release. “I am very pleased to formally welcome to Qualcomm the talented employees of the joint venture, who already have been an integral part of the Qualcomm Technologies RFFE team, and I look forward to celebrating even more innovation as we continue to invent breakthrough technologies on the path towards a 5G connected world.”
