Cambridge, UK - 10 February 2009 - CSR (LSE: CSR) and SiRF (NASDAQ: SIRF) today entered into a conditional agreement under which SiRF will merge with CSR, increasing the scale of CSR in the high-growth GPS technology market and strengthening CSR's position as a global leader in both Bluetooth and GPS.
SiRF is a market leader in GPS semiconductors with strong hardware, software and systems. SiRF's significant GPS and assisted GPS (A-GPS) patent portfolio complements CSR's extensive patent portfolio in eGPS. The combined strengths of SiRF and CSR will drive forward the innovation of new chips incorporating GPS and position the enlarged CSR group to be able to take a substantial share of the fast growing GPS market in mobile devices. CSR estimates the GPS attach rate to be around 20% of mobile handsets in 2008 and this is expected to double by 2012.
Bluetooth and GPS are two core segments of CSR's Connectivity Centre and this transaction accelerates CSR's strategy by adding a GPS solution that already has considerable traction with leading tier one customers. The two companies' complementary customer relationships also enable cross-selling of GPS and Bluetooth.
CSR's Connectivity Centre strategy exploits the high attach rates of its Bluetooth technology, integrating additional value-added technologies into its subsystem. CSR's pioneering technique and Smart Integration approach allows different technologies to share resources and improve coexistence between radios, giving excellent end user experience. SiRF's GPS technologies will enable CSR to accelerate its strategic goals for the Connectivity Centre.
Following completion of the transaction,
CSR CEO Joep van Beurden commented, "Financially, strategically and commercially, this is a compelling transaction. We expect it to be significantly earnings accretive, to enhance the enlarged group's financial strength and cash position and to create new and wider revenue opportunities that neither party on its own could pursue as effectively. Strategically, this deal considerably strengthens our leadership position in the Connectivity Centre, a strategy which we believe encapsulates the way our marketplace is developing. Commercially, there is a powerful, complementary fit between the technologies, skill sets and customer relationships of both companies and the way we both see our customers' needs evolving. Together we create a group substantially better placed both to meet the challenges of today and to emerge even stronger from the current challenging market conditions. This transaction is an exciting opportunity for shareholders, employees and customers."
Information on SiRF
SiRF, inc. (NASDAQ: SIRF) develops and markets multifunction location platforms based on semiconductor and software products that are designed to enable location-awareness utilising GPS and other location technologies, enhanced by wireless connectivity and multimedia capabilities for high-volume mobile consumer devices and commercial applications. Founded in 1995, SiRF is listed on the NASDAQ National Market under the ticker symbol "SIRF", and has its headquarters in San Jose, California.
SiRF's technology has been integrated into a wide range of mobile consumer devices such as automobile navigation and telematics systems, PNDs, mobile phones, mobile computers, mobile internet devices, handheld and wearable GPS recreational devices, digital cameras and camcorders, mobile gaming devices, child and pet trackers, GPS-based peripherals as well as into commercial applications such as logistics management systems, enterprise and carrier LBS servers, asset tracking devices and fleet management systems.
SiRF generated revenues of $232 million in 2008, and had gross assets of $195 million as at 27 December 2008