Broadcom Corp. said Thursday it’s buying Fremont-based Athena Semiconductors Inc. for $21.6 million.
Athena designs chips for mobile phones to receive TV signals and other wireless products. The buy is part of Broadcom’s push into wireless chips.
Broadcom is paying cash for Athena. The deal is expected to close this quarter and could result in a one-time charge for the fourth quarter for research and development under way at Athena. The amount of a charge, if any, hasn’t been determined, Broadcom said.
Athena has a design team in Bangalore, India, with 40 engineers and one in Greece with 23 engineers. The India design center “represents a key step in achieving the company’s continuing goal of expanding its presence in India,” Broadcom said.
Founded in 2001, Athena has raised about $20 million in venture capital, including funds from Samsung Electronics Co.
The company’s products are based on work done at Berkeley Concept Research Corporation, an incubator company with close ties to researchers from the University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University.
