Renesas to Acquire PCB Design Software Leader Altium

Renesas Electronics announced an agreement to acquire all outstanding shares of the global leader in electronics design systems, Altium. The announcement, with important repercussions for product developers globally, enables Renesas to create a system-level integrated and open electronics system design and lifecycle management platform, leveraging Altium’s popular design software and cloud platform capabilities to increase innovation and overall productivity.

Danish audio amplifier company ICEpower has signed a definitive agreement with Crestline Investors, for an investment in a majority stake in the company. Crestline, headquartered in the US, is an institutional alternative investment management firm with over $16 billion in assets under management. ICEpower's management aims to accelerate the company's global growth strategy as a "preferred partner for outsourced product creation to the leaders of the audio industry."

NXP expanded its already broad portfolio of voice enablement solutions with the acquisition of Retune DSP, the Denmark-based provider of Digital Signal Processing (DSP) software and algorithms for voice control and communication applications. Announced in July and now confirmed, the acquisition of Retune DSP adds three powerful voice DSP software products that will merge with NXP’s voice solutions. The combination with NXP’s broad customer base, global footprint and scale, promises to expand breakthrough voice solutions through combined R&D, sales force and customer support teams.

STMicroelectronics announced a transaction with Cartesiam to acquire its assets (including its IP portfolio) and to transfer and integrate its employees. Cartesiam, based in Toulon (France), is a software company founded in 2016, which specializes in artificial intelligence (AI) development tools enabling machine-learning and inferencing on Arm-based microcontrollers, which today power billions of devices.

CEVA announced that it agreed to acquire Massachusetts-based Intrinsix Corp., a leading chip design specialist, for approximately $33 million in cash, subject to working capital and other customary purchase price adjustments. The closing of the acquisition is anticipated to take place during the second quarter of 2021. The acquisition allows CEVA to offer IP, software and chip development.

Synaptics Inc from San Jose, CA - the same company that in 2017 acquired Conexant, one of the industry's leading audio and voice technology specialists - expanded even more it's connectivity lead with the just concluded acquisition of DisplayLink Corp., a leading supplier of universal docking solutions and high-performance video compression technology. This strategic expansion of Synaptics business happens just a few days after the acquisition of assets and manufacturing rights associated with the wireless connectivity business of Broadcom.

Knowles Corporation, a market leader in advanced micro-acoustic, audio processing, and precision device solutions, announced it has acquired the MEMS microphone ASIC design business from Austrian company ams AG. The transaction includes intellectual property, rights to source ASIC wafers from multiple foundry partners, and the transfer of the ASIC design team, which will continue to be based in Switzerland.

Swiss company u‑blox, a global provider of positioning and wireless communication technologies, announced it acquired Rigado’s Bluetooth modules business in an Asset Purchase Agreement. Rigado is an Oregon-based provider of Edge‑as‑a-Service gateway solutions for Commercial IoT applications, and began offering certified wireless modules in 2015, implementing Nordic Semiconductor’s nRF52840 Bluetooth Low Energy (Bluetooth LE) SoC.

Skyworks Solutions announced it signed a definitive agreement to purchase Avnera Corporation, the developer of Analog System on Chips (ASoCs) and one of the main technology providers for audio development in the areas of analog/mixed signal audio, voice and speech processing engines. Avnera solutions are used by many reputed consumer electronics brands for all wireless audio applications as well as Bluetooth, Lightning and USB-C product development.