Skyworks to acquire smart interface innovator Avnera

Upon consummation of the transaction, Skyworks will expand its addressable market by over $5bn. Target applications include AI speakers/microphones, virtual assistants, intelligent gaming controllers and vehicle in-dash systems as well as wired/wireless headsets.

“Voice is increasingly becoming the primary interface for artificial intelligence and Internet of Things applications. Skyworks’ acquisition of Avnera will enable us to capitalise on the rapid proliferation of audio functionality and its convergence with our advanced connectivity solutions,” said Liam K. Griffin, president and chief executive officer of Skyworks.

“With Skyworks’ global sales channels, strong customer relationships and operational scale, we plan to leverage Avnera’s innovative product portfolio and systems expertise to increase our footprint in automotive, industrial, home automation, enterprise and high-end consumer markets. In short, this transaction perfectly complements Skyworks’ product roadmap and will be highly synergistic across a broader customer set.”

“We are extremely excited to be joining forces with Skyworks to offer customers complete system solutions for next generation smart interface applications,” said Manpreet Khaira, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Avnera.

“Both companies share a vision of enabling ubiquitous, always-on communications through highly customised designs. Together, we can develop, deliver and rapidly scale audio products with unprecedented integration and performance for the increasingly connected wireless world.”

At the heart of Avnera’s system solutions are market-specific ASoCs that combine breakthrough audio/voice analogue circuits, highly efficient power management and custom hardware accelerators for smart acoustic signal processing/AI features.

Avnera’s ASoCs achieve the highest level of integration in the industry and set a new performance watermark from a power consumption and footprint standpoint ─ all underpinned by more than 100 issued and pending patents. Key Avnera customers include Harman, JBL, Panasonic, Philips, Pioneer, Polk, Samsung, Sennheiser, Sony, Vizio and Yamaha.

Skyworks will pay $405m in cash to Avnera equity holders at closing with up to an additional $20m if certain performance targets are exceeded over a 12-month post-closing period.

The transaction has been approved by the boards of directors of both Skyworks and Avnera and is anticipated to close by September 2018, subject to customary closing conditions. Excluding any non-recurring acquisition-related charges and amortisation of intangibles, Skyworks expects the acquisition to be immediately accretive to diluted earnings per share.