Qualcomm has agreed to acquire UK-based semiconductor company Alphawave Semi at an implied enterprise value of approximately $2.4bn.
Alphawave Semi specialises in high-speed wired connectivity and compute technologies, offering IP, custom silicon, connectivity products, and chiplets.
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These products are integral to the core infrastructure, enabling next-generation services across various high-growth applications, including data centres, AI, data networking, and data storage.
The Alphawave board has unanimously recommended the deal.
In April, Qualcomm confirmed that it was evaluating the possibility of making an offer to acquire Alphawave.
Through this deal, Qualcomm intends to further expedite and offer key assets for its expansion into data centres.
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By GlobalDataQualcomm said its Oryon CPU and Hexagon NPU processors are positioned to meet the increasing demand for high-performance, low-power computing.
This demand is driven by a rapid rise in AI inferencing and the shift towards custom CPUs in data centres.
Alphawave Semi president and CEO Tony Pialis said: “By combining our resources and expertise, we will be well-positioned to expand our product offerings, reach a broader customer base, and enhance our technological capabilities.
“Together, we will unlock new opportunities for growth, drive innovation, and create a leading player in AI compute and connectivity solutions.”
Subject to certain conditions and regulatory approvals, the deal is anticipated to be completed during the first calendar quarter of 2026.
Qualcomm president and CEO Cristiano Amon said: “Under Tony’s leadership Alphawave Semi has developed leading high-speed wired connectivity and compute technologies that are complementary to our power-efficient CPU and NPU cores.
“Qualcomm’s advanced custom processors are a natural fit for data centre workloads. The combined teams share the goal of building advanced technology solutions and enabling next-level connected computing performance across a wide array of high growth areas, including data centre infrastructure.”
