Broadcom Ltd. agreed to sell its wireless infrastructure backhaul business for $80 million to MaxLinear Inc. in the latest divestiture led by Chief Executive Hock Tan.
The sale continues trims to the Irvine operation of Broadcom, which is based in Singapore and has its U.S. headquarters in San Jose. The business unit employed about 120 and posted sales of nearly $30 million last year.
The divestiture is Broadcom’s second in less than two weeks. The company in late April sold its Internet of Things business for $550 million to Cypress Semiconductor Corp. in San Jose.
Broadcom has slashed more than 700 employees at its Irvine campus since the company was sold in February for $37 billion to Avago Technologies Inc., creating the world’s third largest chipmaker.
The Irvine campus has lost about a third of its work force, according to filings with the California Employment Development Department and Business Journal research. Broadcom entered the year as OC’s 34th largest employer, with 2,400 local workers.
The Business Journal reported that Tan cleared out nearly the entire management team at Broadcom Corp. after the sale closed as part of a nationwide cost-cutting plan.
—Chris Casacchia
