Synaptics Aims for Smart Home, IoT Expansion with Two New Acquisitions

“Conexant is being purchased at a value of approximately $300 million and 726,666 shares in Synaptics’ common stock, while the Marvell Multimedia Solutions Business acquisition is valued at about $95 million.”

Synaptics is buying Conexant Systems, LLC, and Marvell Technology Group’s Multimedia Solutions Business, the company has announced. Both of the firms to be acquired are video and audio processing specialists.

In a statement announcing the acquisitions, Synaptics asserted that they are expected to “jumpstart its presence in the smart home market,” adding that they are “part of Synaptics’ long term strategy to extend its human interface leadership into the consumer IoT era.” The company also asserted that it expects “to increase its total addressable market opportunity by 38 percent or $2.8 billion to $10.3 billion by 2020.”

Both acquisitions have been initiated through definitive agreements. Conexant is being purchased at a value of approximately $300 million and 726,666 shares in Synaptics’ common stock, while the Marvell Multimedia Solutions Business acquisition is valued at about $95 million. Both acquisitions are expected to close in the third quarter of this year.

While Synaptics’ acquisitions are more in the realm of the company’s user interface business, they point to what appears to be a growing M&A trend among fingerprint biometrics companies, with Fingerprint Cards and Precise Biometrics also having recently finalized acquisitions of their own.