MediaTek announces strategic cooperation with NavInfo in expanding Automotive IC and Internet of Vehicles markets
MediaTek and NavInfo independently approved the signing of a Strategic Cooperation Agreement and a Framework Agreement by the Board of Directors of each company. Per the Agreements, NavInfo plans to wholly acquire AutoChips, a Chinese subsidiary of MediaTek, for a purchase price of US$600 million.
Completion of the above is scheduled for 4Q16, subject to various relevant regulatory approvals. Concurrently, MediaTek plans to invest in or co-invest with NavInfo, an amount of no more than US$100 million, to cooperate strategically in the fields of Automotive ICs and the Internet of Vehicles (hereinafter “IoV”).
NavInfo is China’s largest and worldwide No. 3 independent provider of digital maps, having led China’s OEM in-dash navigation market for 14 consecutive years. Its clients include mainstream automakers as BMW, VW, Mercedes, GM, Toyota, Volvo and Great Wall. In addition, NavInfo has long cultivated the IoV market, from providing traditional services such as digital maps, to now providing dynamic traffic information, cloud services, automotive apps, and automotive OS. Aside from IoV services for car manufacturers, NavInfo also provides clients such as Tencent, Baidu, and Didi with dynamic traffic information to power their services. From this cooperation, MediaTek shall become better attuned to opportunities in the IoV market. In complement, MediaTek will continue to leverage its expertise in wireless communications and image processing, and along with NavInfo, to jointly develop and cultivate the Automotive IC and Autonomous Car markets, with an eye for opportunities in ADAS and Telematics.
AutoChips is a Chinese subsidiary of MediaTek offering automotive infotainment SoC solutions. The goal of this cooperation is to leverage the strength of AutoChips in hardware and the expertise of NavInfo in software to provide clients with an enhanced infotainment SoC solution, as well as integrated dynamic traffic information, to cultivate the IoV market. Through the relationships of NavInfo, AutoChips can also work more directly with automakers in the future.
This strategic cooperation is a win-win scenario for MediaTek and our valued partner, NavInfo. Aligned both financially and strategically, both MediaTek and NavInfo can leverage the other’s market leading positions to help propel growth in the fast growing markets of Automotive IC and IoV.
Source: www.mediatek.com