Qualcomm has confirmed its interest in buying high-speed connectivity module designer Alphawave Semi, a move that could see yet another major British tech operation swallowed up by a foreign business.
The San Diego-based titan has filed a statement with the London Stock Exchange registering talks with Alphawave, which produces silicon IP for connecting chips in applications in datacenters and telecoms.
"Qualcomm notes the recent share price movement of Alphawave IP Group PLC and confirms that it is considering making an offer to acquire the entire issued, and to be issued, share capital of Alphawave.
"There can be no certainty that any firm offer will be made, nor as to the terms on which any firm offer might be made," the statement says.
The stock price for Alphawave has gone up 46 percent since March 31 to £137 ($177) yet this is still 70 percent down on the peak in August 2021.
According to Reuters, Arm also recently sought to acquire Alphawave, but decided not to pursue the matter following preliminary discussions.
Arm was looking to use Alphawave's SerDes IP for high performance connectivity to build its own artificial-intelligence processors.
SerDes, or Serializer/Deserializer, is a circuit for conversion of data into a serial stream and back, which means Alphawave's IP must have some advantage such as high performance to explain the interest from other chip specialists, or that its share price has shrunk so low that it is a tempting takeover target.
Alphawave's IP is incorporated in the latest silicon photonic interconnects from Lightmatter unveiled this week, and is showcasing products including a 224 Gbps PAM4 SerDes at the Optical Fiber Communications Conference & Exhibition (OFC) in San Francisco.
Earlier today, Qualcomm also revealed its purchase of MovianAI Artificial Intelligence (AI) Application and Research JSC (MovianAI), the former generative AI division of VinAI Application and Research.
The takeover talk relating to Alphawave highlights an issue that has long dogged the UK tech sector: companies in the country struggle to scale out from the startup phase due to a lack funding, and instead turn to overseas backers and ultimately end up in foreign ownership – as Arm itself did.
If Qualcomm does snap up Alphawave, it will be yet another UK technology firm that is subsumed into a global tech giant.
According to London Stock Exchange rules, Qualcomm must either declare a definite intention to make an offer or state that it will not pursue the acquisition by April 29. ®