Tsinghua to buy mobile phone chip maker Spreadtrum for $1.78 bn

Tsinghua Holdings Co Ltd will acquire Chinese mobile phone chip maker Spreadtrum Communications Inc for around $1.78 billion.

Tsinghua Unigroup, a subsidiary of state-owned Tsinghua Holdings, will pay $31 per American depositary share, representing a 17-per cent premium to Spreadtrum's closing price of $26.45 yesterday.

Shanghai-based Spreadtrum had in June said that it had received a preliminary bid of $28.50 per ADS or $1.38 billion Tsinghua, and was evaluating it.

With annual revenues of around $720 million, Spreadtrum, the world's 17th-largest chipmaker, develops mobile chipset platforms for smartphones, feature phones and other consumer electronics products, supporting 2G, 3G and 4G wireless communications standards.

Spreadtrum's products support a broad range of wireless communications standards, including GSM, GPRS, EDGE, TD-SCDMA, W-CDMA, HSPA+ and TD-LTE.

Its customers include global and China-based manufacturers developing mobile products for consumers in China and emerging markets around the world.

Founded in April 2001, Spreadtrum has R&D centers in Shanghai, Beijing and Tianjin in China and San Diego in the US, technical support center in Shenzhen, and international field support offices in Korea, Taiwan and India.

Tsinghua Holdings is funded by Tsinghua University in China, and is the controlling shareholder of Unigroup, with a minor stake held by Beijing Jiankun Investment Group Co.

Unigroup's business lines include high-technology, bio-technology, science park development, and urban infrastructure construction.

We believe Spreadtrum and Tsinghua Unigroup will supplement each other and create enormous synergies in China and abroad," said, Zhao Weiguo, chairman and CEO of Tsinghua Unigroup.

''Tsinghua Unigroup is in the unique position to offer unique expertise in consumer products, protection and support from a vast IP portfolio, and unique access to important capital markets in China," he added.

Dr. Leo Liyou Li, chairman and CEO of Spreadtrum said, "The acquisition by Tsinghua will provide investors with significant returns, and position the Spreadtrum business for continued growth. The vast IP portfolio of Tsinghua Unigroup and Tsinghua University also gives the original Spreadtrum business advantageous boosts in the area of IP protection.