Paris-based IoT company has championed asset tracking
Japan-based Renesas Electronics has agreed to acquire IoT company Sequans SQNS 0.36%↑ for $249 million. The deal, expected to close in the first quarter of 2024, allows Renesas to integrate Sequans’ cellular connectivity products into its core product lineup of microcontrollers and microprocessors, the company said.
“We have been working closely with Renesas to serve the growing market demand for massive IoT and broadband IoT customers,” said Georges Karam, Sequans CEO and chairman, in a statement.
Renesas, which has worked with Sequans since 2020, said the market for cellular IoT technology is growing rapidly, mainly fueled by demand for smart meters, asset tracking systems, smart homes, smart cities, connected vehicles, fixed wireless access networks and mobile computing devices.
For its part, Paris-based Sequans has championed IoT tracking with cellular and low-power GNSS, particularly to mitigate loss from theft. The company marketed its IoT trackers for such applications as luggage, wallets, bikes, motorcycles, automobiles, industrial pallets, fleets, farm animals and shipping containers, to name a few.
Sequans’ Monarch 2 GM02SP cellular IoT is an example of its tracking technology. It combined LTE-M/NB-IoT technology with Nestwave’s (now part of NextNav NN 0.60%↑) GNSS positioning.
Renesas has been expanding its connectivity product offerings through strategic acquisitions that include Dialog, Celeno and Panthronics. Sequans, founded in 2003 as a WiMAX chip company, almost went under when HTC stopped ordering its radio chips in 2011.
