Qualcomm Strikes $2.4B Deal to Acquire Alphawave Semi in Major Chip Industry Move

On June 9, Qualcomm Incorporated declared that it had reached a deal with Alphawave IP Group plc about the terms and conditions of a suggested acquisition of all of Alphawave Semi's issued and to be issued ordinary share capital by Aqua Acquisition Sub LLC, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, at an implied enterprise value of roughly US$2.4 billion.

Qualcomm's growth into data centres is intended to be further accelerated and supported by the acquisition of Alphawave Semi. The rapid rise in AI inferencing and the shift to bespoke CPUs in data centres are driving the need for high-performance, low-power computing, which Qualcomm's Oryon CPU and Hexagon NPU processors are well-positioned to satisfy.

Acquisition to Complete in the First Quarter of 2026

According to the announcement made in compliance with Rule 2.7 of the UK Takeover Code, this acquisition of Alphawave Semi is anticipated to be finalised in the first calendar quarter of 2026, provided that certain conditions are met or waived (where applicable).

These conditions include, among other things, regulatory approvals, the consent of the required majority of Alphawave Semi's shareholders, and UK High Court sanction.

Impressive Product range of Alphawave Semi

Providing intellectual property, custom silicon, connectivity devices, and chiplets that promote quicker, more dependable data transfer with improved performance and reduced power consumption, Alphawave Semi is a world pioneer in high-speed wired connectivity and computation technologies.

Products from Alphawave Semi are a component of the core infrastructure that makes next-generation services possible in a variety of high-growth applications, such as data centres, artificial intelligence, networking, and storage.

Under Tony's direction, Alphawave Semi has created cutting-edge high-speed wired networking and computation technologies that complement our power-efficient CPU and NPU cores, according to Cristiano Amon, president and CEO of Qualcomm Incorporated.

Workloads in data centres are a perfect fit for Qualcomm's cutting-edge proprietary processors. Building cutting-edge technological solutions and enabling next-level linked computing performance across a variety of high-growth domains, including data centre infrastructure, is the shared objective of the merged teams.

Tony Pialis, president and CEO of Alphawave Semi, provided more insight on the acquisition, stating that Qualcomm's purchase of Alphawave Semi marks a noteworthy turning point for the company and a chance to collaborate with a reputable industry leader while adding value for its clients.

The company will be in a strong position to increase our technological capabilities, access a wider consumer base, and broaden our product offerings by integrating Qualcomm's resources and experience. Together, Qualcomm will spur innovation, open up new business prospects, and establish itself as a major force in AI compute and networking solutions.