– GloNav is a leading fabless semiconductor company developing GPS and other satellite navigation technologies and products
– Solutions enable high quality location functionality to be built into mobile phones and portable devices, including PDAs, digital cameras and music players
– GloNav was spun out of Ceva (NASD:CEVA)
– GloNav was backed by Atlantic Bridge Ventures
– NXP Semiconductors is a top 10 semiconductor company
– NXP was founded by Philips Electronics 50 years ago and spun off as a separate business in 2006. NXP is owned by a private equity consortium including KKR, Bain Capital, Apax, Silver Lake and AlpInvest
– NXP has a diverse revenue base with heavy focus on the consumer and wireless areas
– NXP believes GPS has the opportunity to reach the penetration levels of FM Radio and Bluetooth in wireless handsets and as part of its strategy to focus on wireless connectivity it has brought the technology in-house
– NXP will initially sell GloNav’s solution on a standalone basis at the 90nm node but over time will migrate the solution into a combined “connectivity chip” at the 45nm node
– Long term the potential exists to integrate the GloNav GPS technology into the wireless baseband
– GloNav’s strong IP position fits into NXP’s heritage as an IP focused company
– NXP’s large Tier 1 customer base significantly expands the potential market for GloNav
– Arma Partners has been active in the wireless handset market and maintains relationships with the majority of the key buyers
– After the CSR-NordNav deal a wave of consolidation began in the GPS IC market. GloNav was approached by an IDM and at this stage Arma was brought to explore whether an attractive valuation could be achieved despite GloNav only being at “product tape-out” stage
– Together with the management team and investors Arma designed an accelerated process involving the major integrators in the space
– Arma was able to successfully create a competitive process which led to a strategic valuation being paid for an early stage company