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CSR absorbs GPS chip company SiRF

British company acquiring maker of GPS chips used by TomTom, Garmin, others.

Rupert Goodwins
Rupert started off as a nerdy lad expecting to be an electronics engineer, but having tried it for a while discovered that journalism was more fun. He ended up on PC Magazine in the early '90s, before that evolved into ZDNet UK - and Rupert evolved with them into an online journalist.
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Rupert Goodwins

CSR, formerly Cambridge Silicon Radio, has bought SiRF, an American GPS chip company, in a share transaction valued at 91 million British pounds ($132.7 million), giving SiRF shareholders 27 percent of the new, enlarged CSR. Two SiRF directors will get seats on the board.

SiRF is best known for its SiRFstar range of GPS chips, which are used by TomTom, Garmin, Palm, and others. CSR has traditionally specialized in Bluetooth chips, more recently concentrating on highly integrated all-in-one circuits that combine Bluetooth with other radio functions like Wi-Fi and FM reception. Lately, it has been promoting 802.11n for mobile applications, although industry uptake has yet to take off.

The company has confirmed to me that it will continue to be called CSR, and will continue to have its headquarters in Cambridge, U.K.

Rupert Goodwins of ZDNet UK reported from London.