Chipmaker Qualcomm said it offered to buy auto parts maker Veoneer for $4.6 billion, an 18.4 percent premium to a bid by Canada’s Magna International that was accepted by Veoneer’s board.
Qualcomm, apart from powering smartphones, has been a chip supplier to carmakers for a decade and last year started its own advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) called Snapdragon Ride.
Qualcomm said this proposed acquisition is consistent with Qualcomm’s growth and diversification strategy. The company continues to see traction in automotive, with a revenue-design win pipeline of approximately $10 billion.
Qualcomm earlier this year signed a signed a collaboration deal with Veoneer to develop a software and chip platform for driver-assistance systems.
Qualcomm hopes to grow its automotive chips business by creating open and competitive platforms for automakers along with Veoneer.
“As the automotive industry transforms, it is becoming important for automakers to have a partner who develops horizontal platforms that drive innovation and enable competition,” Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon said.
Magna has a similar interest in buying Veoneer as it tries to compete with ADAS makers such as Aptiv, Bosch and Continental to capture a larger share of the booming business. The Canadian company had offered to buy rival Veoneer in July for about $3.8 billion in cash.
