ST-Ericsson NV (Geneva, Switzerland), the failed joint venture in mobile phone chips, has sold off its connectivity and global navigation satellite system (GNSS) business but has not revealed the purchaser or the price.

ST-Ericsson announced it had agreed to sell the assets and intellectual property rights (IPR) associated with its mobile connectivity Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) business to a "leading semiconductor company." Although no purchase price was given the company did say that the avoidance of employee restructuring charges and other related restructuring costs, would reduce the joint venture’s cash needs by approximately $90 million.

In addition to the assets and IPR associated with this business, a team of 130 industry veterans located in Daventry, England, Bangalore, India and Singapore are expected to join the buyer at the closing of the transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals and is close n August.

"Today's transaction validates the leading innovation developed by ST-Ericsson in mobile navigation systems and marks a further important step towards the execution of our shareholders' decision to exit from ST-Ericsson," said Carlo Ferro, CEO of ST-Ericsson, in a statement. "I am pleased that this organization will continue to develop leading-edge technologies and delighted that the team found a new home at a leading player in the semiconductor industry."

(Source: esmchina.com)