Renesas acquires Celeno, expanding connectivity portfolio

Renesas Electronics, a supplier of semiconductor products, has announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Celeno Communications in an all-cash transaction valuing Celeno at approximately US$315 million (AU$419,345,955), assuming the payment of certain milestone payments as set forth in the agreement.

Headquartered in Israel, Celeno offers a wide range of wireless communication solutions, including Wi-Fi chipsets and software solutions, for high-performance home networks, smart buildings, enterprise and industrial markets. Its compact chipset offerings for Wi-Fi 6 and 6E deliver good Wi-Fi network performance and increased security with low latency and low power consumption. The company’s breakthrough Wi-Fi Doppler Imaging technology, a Wi-Fi-based, high-resolution imaging technology, is meanwhile suitable for home elderly care and assisted living, home security, safe driving and digital and connected factories.

Renesas offers a breadth of low-power MCU/MPU/SoC processors, wireless ICs, sensors and power management technologies. Celeno’s Wi-Fi and software capabilities are highly complementary to Renesas, the latter says, with the combination creating comprehensive, end-to-end embedded solutions for addressing the fast-growing markets for low-power connectivity in IoT, infrastructure, industrial and automotive applications.

The acquisition will thus significantly enhance Renesas’s connectivity portfolio with the addition of Celeno’s Wi-Fi technologies and software expertise. It also increases Renesas’s engineering and design scale with Celeno’s design centre in Israel and by welcoming R&D staff based in Israel, Ukraine, India, China, Taiwan and more. This further strengthens Renesas’s global engineering and software development talent base, allowing the company to bring more seamless and expanded services to customers around the globe.

“The transaction announced today underscores our continuous commitment to improve performance and efficiency in electronic systems,” said Hidetoshi Shibata, President and CEO of Renesas. “Building on our recently expanded connectivity portfolio following the Dialog acquisition, the addition of Celeno provides us with more advanced Wi-Fi connectivity capabilities to deliver end-to-end connectivity solutions for both clients and access points. Renesas is now strongly positioned to capitalise on the growing opportunities from the massive rise in connectivity and requirements created by today’s increasingly connected world.”

“This is a compelling transaction for both our customers and employees,” said Gilad Rozen, President and CEO of Celeno. “Our depth and strength in connectivity combined with Renesas’s industry-leading portfolio of embedded solutions will allow us, together, to open up new growth areas we can target. Renesas will also provide us with the go-to-market capabilities to bring Celeno to a broader range of customers.”

The transaction has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies and is expected to close by the end of calendar year 2021, subject to customary closing conditions.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Sergey Nivens

Please follow us and share on Twitter and Facebook. You can also subscribe for FREE to our weekly newsletter and bimonthly magazine.