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Qualcomm has confirmed that it is evaluating the possibility of making an offer to acquire Alphawave IP Group, a UK-based connectivity chip designer.
The announcement was made in a filing with the London Stock Exchange.
However, Qualcomm clarified that “there can be no certainty that any firm offer will be made, nor as to the terms on which any firm offer might be made”.
Under UK takeover rules, Qualcomm has until April 29 to either announce a firm intention to make an offer for Alphawave or declare that it does not intend to proceed.
This deadline could be extended with the consent of the Takeover Panel. The company has stated that further announcements will be made “if and when appropriate”.
Alphawave currently has a market valuation exceeding $900m.
The news follows media reports that Arm Holdings had recently considered acquiring Alphawave but ultimately decided against pursuing a buyout.
Arm was reportedly interested in Alphawave’s SerDes chip technology.
SerDes (Serializer/Deserializer) chips play a crucial role in modern computing infrastructure. These chips are used in network switches, servers, and other systems to facilitate data transfer.
By converting multiple parallel data streams into a single serial data stream, SerDes chips help improve transmission speeds and reduce power consumption.
They also minimise the risk of data transmission errors, which can occur due to minor technical discrepancies such as variations in network cable lengths.
Beyond transmitting data, SerDes modules assist processors in receiving inbound traffic by converting it into a format that can be efficiently analysed.
Alphawave’s SerDes chips are capable of processing up to 224 gigabits of data per second and support network modules that enable data transfer within and between systems, according to SiliconANGLE.
Some of its chips are compatible with Compute Express Link (CXL), a technology designed to facilitate high-speed communication between CPUs and GPUs in machine learning environments.
In addition to SerDes modules, Alphawave offers a range of networking products, including controllers that manage data flow between systems.
The company has also developed a processing module designed for cybersecurity applications, such as encryption.
Should the acquisition proceed, it would mark Qualcomm’s third acquisition since the start of the year.
Earlier this week, the company announced its acquisition of Vietnamese artificial intelligence research group MovianAI.
Qualcomm had also previously acquired Edge Impulse, a provider of AI model development software.