NXP Semiconductors announced a $1.76 billion deal to acquire wireless technology assets from Marvell Technology Group, as it looks to boost its connectivity options for customers in markets including automotive.

The chip company is to acquire Marvell’s Wi-Fi connectivity business, bluetooth technology portfolio and related assets. In a statement, NXP said this will enable it to “deliver complete, scalable processing and connectivity solutions to its customers across its focus end markets”.

With revenue of around $300 million in Marvell’s fiscal 2019, NXP expects turnover associated with the assets to double by 2022.

The units affected by the deal employ some 550 staff worldwide.

“We think it’s another important foundation in our total solutions for customers: having the connectivity to go with the processing and security,” NXP CEO Rick Clemmer, CEO of NXP, said in an interview.

Marvell has been refocusing its business after a challenging period several years ago.

In a statement, Matt Murphy, president and CEO, said: “This transaction yields a premium valuation and substantially higher economic return for Marvell shareholders while accelerating our transformation into a leading infrastructure supplier spanning 5G, data centre, enterprise and automotive Ethernet applications.”

The deal is also a significant one for NXP, which has had to position itself for the future as an independent company following a long-running, but ultimately failed, attempt to be acquired by Qualcomm.

“We are excited to be able to combine Marvell’s world-class connectivity with NXP’s industry leading embedded processing, we can offer our customer base the broadest portfolio of Edge solutions which includes tailored security and a full suite of wireless connectivity spanning Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy, Zigbee, Thread and NFC,” Clemmer said in a statement.

The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2020, subject to closing conditions including regulatory approval.