Alain Dutheil, COO of STMicroelectronics, has been appointed CEO of the ST-NXP-Ericsson joint venture in wireless ICs. Dutheil had previously been appointed to head the transition team of ST-NXPWireless which was absorbing the wireless IC activities of ST and NXP.
Now that ST has bought out NXP’s final 20 per cent stake in ST-NXP Wireless, NXP has no further interest in the joint venture.
The price paid by ST for the remaining 20 per cent stake in ST-NXP Wireless was $92m, a sum which was said to be based on the performance of ST-NXP Wireless over the last year.
Since ST paid $1.5bn for the 80 per cent share in ST-NXP it bought last year, the new valuation of $92m for a 20 per cent share suggests that NXP got a very good deal.
The wireless IC market has deteriorated sharply in the last 12 months with Freescale Semiconductor finding itself unable to find a buyer for its wireless division and now looking to sell it off piece-meal.
Now that NXP is out of the equation, the ST-Ericsson joint venture, which has now been finalized, will be owned 50-50 by ST and Ericsson. To acquire its stake, Ericsson paid $700m to ST and put another $400m into the joint venture.
Both ST and Ericsson each appoint four directors to the board of the joint venture. Chairman of the joint venture is Carl-Henric Svanberg, CEO of Ericsson; Vice Chairman is ST CEO, Carlo Bozotti.
The joint venture’s existing customers include four out of the five top handset makers, and employees number 8,000.