Qualcomm to buy chip firm Alphawave for US$2.4 billion, targeting AI growth
Qualcomm has agreed to buy London-listed semiconductor company Alphawave IP Group for about US$2.4 billion in cash to expand its technology for artificial intelligence (AI)
The offer equates to about 183 pence per share for Alphawave, the companies said in a statement on Monday. That's a 96 per cent premium to the company's share price on March 31, the last trading day before Alphawave and Qualcomm disclosed the talks. The deal, which is still subject to regulatory and shareholder approval, is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026.
Qualcomm chief executive officer Cristiano Amon is looking to lessen the company's reliance on the smartphone market, where growth has slowed, and push into new areas. Alphawave makes high-speed semiconductor and connectivity technology that can be used for data centres and AI applications, two growth areas in the chip industry that are being driven by demand for products like OpenAI's ChatGPT.
Alphawave's board has unanimously recommended the cash offer. Investors representing 75 per cent of shares must vote in favour of the deal for it to go through. Alphawave shareholders and directors representing about 50 per cent of shares have agreed to vote in favour of the deal, the company said.
Alphawave shares rose 23 per cent to 183.60 pence at 8.53am in London. The shares have risen about 117 per cent this year.
Alphawave, which held an initial public offering in 2021 at 410 pence per share, has consistently traded below that level. The company had struggled with a reliance on large customers and navigating geopolitical tensions between the US and China, where Alphawave decided to cut back its business last year.
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